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FAEM ECHOES. 



BY 



F'^'^RATCHFORD STARR, M.A., 



ECHO FAEM, 



lilTOHFIEIiD CONNEOTIOUT. 



ILLTTSTRATED. 



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// V^ 



// 



APR 23 18814 



NEW YORK: 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 

751 BROADWAY. 
1881. 



(IT 



Butered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by the 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



TO 

MY MUCH ESTEEMED FRIEND, 
THE BONORABLE 

O. S. SEYMOUR, 

of lAtchfield, 

EX CHIEF JUSTICE OF CONNECTICUT, 

IN TOKEN OF MT EIGH PERSONAL REGARD, 

AND APPRECIATION OF THE 

EEABTT GREETINGS ALWAYS EXTENDED ME 

AS HIS 

BROTHER FARMER. 



CONTENTS 



Chapter I. 

PAGE. 

What led me to the Farm 9 

Chapter II. 
City and Country 14 

Chapter III. 
Litchfield... 20 

Chapter IV. 
Is Farming Respectable ? 29 

Chapter V. 
Early Experience --- 36 

Chapter "ST;. 
Learning to Plow 49 

Chapter VII. 
Farm Hands 56 

Chapter VIII. 
Farm Animals. 68 

Chapter IX. 
Farm Buildings and Farming Implements 86 

Chapter X. 
Can Farming in New England be made Remunerative? 102 



(7) 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE. 

Three o'clock — Time for Refreshments 19 

Learnmg to Plow 50 

Subduing a Runaway Horss 55 

Uncle Bill 58 

Daisy 70 

BuU, Litchfield 73 

Plan of Barns 87 

Interior of one of the Barns 88 

Bam for Dry Cows and Young Stock 93 

Cream Strainer 94 

Rotary Butter Worker, and Prints of Butter 95 

Testing Quality of Milk 97 

BottUng Mlk 99 

Milk Bottle 100 

Hay Loader 101 

Making a Mound of Stones. -..107 

(8) 



FARM ECHOES. 



CHAPTER L 
WHAT LED ME TO THE FARM. 

In a young and extended country like this, where new 
avenues to wealth are continually being opened up, it is 
not to be wondered at that comparatively few of its men 
of business work moderately. The high pressure at 
which others are driving their commercial affairs irresist- 
ibly impels us to put on more steam than we should 
otherwise do. The race in many a business career is not 
unlike the steamer races against both time and each other. 

In common with many other men of business, I made 
the grave mistake of working so assiduously at my office 
duties as to disregard frequent admonitions that my health 
was thus being impaired. I vainly hoped that the inces- 
sant strain would soon so far cease as to make it safe for 
me to continue to labor on without rest. Such hoping 
against hope is a sad delusion. Could those thus cir- 
cumstanced realize their position, they would speedily 
seek relief ; but who that is thus engaged in an extensive 
and increasing business can calmly or rightly compre- 
hend his condition ? He must retire from it for a season 
in order to get a correct view of it, 
(9) 



10 FARM ECHOES. 

The dry inland heat of Philadelphia summers told upon 
me the more severely because of my neglect to exchange 
it occasionally for my native sea-air. Before I was aware 
of the fact, my health had become so impaired that 1 was 
compelled to relinquish at once all ofl&ce duties. Happily 
I did so before it was too late to recuperate. Thousands 
of overworked and broken down men of business, who 
insanely persisted in clinging too long to their business, 
are now dragging out a miserable existence, a burden to 
themselves and to all about them. Upon their monu- 
ments, when erected, should be inscribed "committed 
suicide by too close and persistent confinement to busi- 
ness." Had they but acted the common-sense part of re- 
tiring from a successful business before their health was 
permanently ruined, they might now be enjoying the 
competence their business talents secured to them. 
Looked at even from a selfish stand-point, every one who 
duly reflects upon this matter must realize that it is his 
interest to toil in his counting-room, or store, only so 
long as he can do so with a healthy brain and a healthy 
body. Should any dyspeptic or otherwise "rundown" 
man of business read this, let him heed the warning before 
it is too late. There are so many such, it is not unlikely 
that this chance shot may hit some of them, whether 
they be such as are able to retire wholly from commercial 
pursuits, or the less favored ones who should temporarily 
rest in the business they cannot afford to give up. 

After being under severe medical treatment, and find- 
ing that voyaging across the Atlantic and sight-seeing in 
Europe, though so charming, did not produce the desired 
cure, I purchased a large-sized yacht and experienced 



FARM ECHOES. 11 

such benefit in cruising in her, that when, at the end of 
the yachting season, I called upon my physician, he was 
mucli surprised at the change he saw in me, and asked 
what I had been doing to produce it. When informed 
that I had "employed another doctor," he was quite 
taken aback, and in a significant tone of voice asked, 
*' What doctor ?" Upon being informed that it was " Dr. 
Yacht," he remarked that as the sea was so beneficial to 
me I had "better follow it as a profession." The ques- 
tion of yachting was, however, otherwise disposed of, as 
none of my family could be with me because of their 
dread of the ocean, and their illness when upon it. 
Much of my boyhood was spent in boating, and I have 
always had a fondness for such amusement. If, therefore, 
my j)en occasionally jumps the track, and makes a sud- 
den dash for old Ocean, the reader must pardon the 
digression. 

After searching for a summer residence among the hills 
of New England, I found one a mile east of, and about 
sixty feet above the village of Litchfield, Connecticut, the 
natural advantages of which so charmed me that I pur- 
chased it. Sixty-six acres were far more land than I 
wanted, as I had not the most remote idea of being inter- 
ested in farming, but that was the size of the property I 
then purchased. What to do with the surplus land, and, 
it may be added surplus rocks, I did not stop to consider. 

Clearing and grading the house grounds, gave me a 
taste for such work, and I was soon busily superintending 
it on an enlarged scale. Acres of unproductive land were 
"subdued," to use a local and expressive term. The 
contest was, at times, such as made it also a decidedly 



12 FAEM ECHOES. 

appropriate term. The land and rocks had long dwelt 
together in indolence, and were loth to part company, or 
to work ; but the latter were forced into substantial walls, 
surrounding and guarding the fields upouAvhich they had 
spent so many useless years. The lands, thus freed from 
an incumbrance as ruinous as a mortgage, were promptly 
at work honestly and successfully, for their new owner, 
as if in acknowledgment of his claims upon them, and 
his detestatiou of ijidolence in any form. 

Each fall I returned to my Philadelphia home, greatly 
benefited by my out-door occupation of the summer. So 
charmed Avere we with our country home that each suc- 
ceeding year found my family and myself arriving earlier 
and leaving it later in the season. The sixty-six acres 
grew, not by natural growtli, but by subsequent pur- 
chases, to nearly four hundred acres, which, with over two 
hundred acres leased, with the right of purchase, gave 
the present farm an area of about six hundred acres. 

My personal attention to the work I had laid out, was 
absolutely necessary. I Avanted certain things done in a 
certain way, and it was equally " certain " that they would 
not be so done unless under my strict personal super- 
vision. 

This, it must be remembered, was Avhen I first came to 
Litchfield, years ago, and at a time Avhen I was surrounded 
by ''hands" temporarily employed, .all of whom were 
strangers to me, and to my way of doing things. Among 
them were some excellent, reliable men, who are now per- 
manently or occasionally working for me. General 
Woodruff, Avlien called from his Litchfield farm by pub- 
lic duties, Avould instruct his men what to do during liis 



FARM ECHOES. 13 

absence, and would invariably be provoked by finding that 
the work marked out by him had not been completed, if 
commenced, while he was away. Upon one occasion he 
was exceedingly annoyed to find that his orders had been 
totally disregarded, and he so expressed himself to his 
men. Among them was one whom the others supposed 
to be half-witted, but it may be safely questioned whether 
such was the fact, for he followed the General a short 
distance, after his out-burst of displeasure, and said to 
him. " Grineral ! Don't you know if a man wants a thing 
did, he must did it hisself ?" To work a farm by proxy 
is, as a rule, one of the greatest of follies, and it is not 
to be wondered at that so many who try it come to grief. 
If yoii cannot give your personal attention to a farm, 
you had better not have one. Nine-tenths of the pleasure 
of owning a farm is found in the superintendence of the 
work to be done, whether it be grading, draining, tilling, 
or " subduing " your land. 



14: FARM ECHOf:S. 

CHAPTER II. 
CITY AND COUNTRY. 

If city men who undertake farming would only realize 
their ignorance of such work, and keep this fact con- 
stantly before them during the first four or five years of 
country life, they would be greatly benefited by so doing. 
It would guard them against ten thousand mistakes, and 
be a saving to them of quite as many dollars. They would 
thus be ever learning, and would probably have more 
sound knowledge of practical farming at the end of the 
period named, than many who have spent a lifetime upon 
their farms, and who have never, for an instant, been out 
of the ruts in which their forefathers for generations back 
have travelled ; said ruts having been made considerably 
deeper by each generation that got into them. 

Whether it be the "greenhorn" from the city, or the 
equally green one, country born, he who thinks that he 
knows all that need be known of his particular calling, be 
it tilling the land, or any other pursuit, gives unmis- 
takable proof of lamentable ignorance. It is the barren 
fruit tree which proudly stands erect. Such as are fruit- 
ful are humbly bowed by their own productiveness, em- 
blematic of those whose knowledge humbles them, and 
makes them thirst for more. It not unfrequently happens 
that city men who commence farming make themselves 
ridiculous by aping the country laborers in their attire, 
etc. As well might the ''farm hand," who drives his 
employer's herd of cattle to a city market, through mud 
and dust, do so in fashionable city costume as the '"'city 
farmer," so-called, and often not inappro]iriatoly, don old 



FARM ECHOES. 15 

worn-out boots, with hat and coat to correspond. AYhen 
I see such characters, I cease to wonder why country peo- 
ple make sport of ''city folks." I would not have those 
from the city dress in their best apparel while in the midst 
of their men superintending farm work, but there is an 
appropriate medium between the two extremes. No 
texture, nor style of dress, can make a farmer of one who 
is not a farmer in any costume. 

The city man who goes upon his newly acquired farm 
for the mere pleasure of working as a day laborer, has 
made a mistake he cannot too soon rectify. In not a few 
instances this has been done "for the fun of the thiusr," 
and the results have shown that the fun was decidedly 
costly. A much greater amount of frolic could have been 
secured through other and far less expensive channels. 
To set before one's friends a bottle of champagne and a 
pitcher of milk, as has been done by a fancy farmer, and 
say, "Help yourselves, gentlemen, to whichever you pre- 
fer, they cost me the same," evidences that sucli farming 
is by no means profitable, however amusing. 

A strong, healthy man who enters upon such a calling 
as a business, and who conducts it in a sensible, business- 
like manner, will soon find that, however much he may 
desire to work with his hands, this must not be done to 
the exclusion of the brain work necessary to enable him 
successfully to accomplish what he has undertaken. 

Countrymen have long been the laughing-stock of a 
certain class of city people, and vice versa. This debit 
and credit account is, I think, pretty equally balanced, 
so that neither side need feel much chagrined. 

Small communities frequently, but not necessarily, 



16 FAKM ECHOES. 

make small minds. A conceited countryman, who has 
always lived within himself, who imagines that he knows 
all that is worth knowing, and who does not believe in 
any world outside of his own immediate surroundings, 
is quite as despicable an individual as is to be found in 
any city upstart. There is as much conceit beneath the 
coarsest garment, as can be found in those who are the 
most foppishly dressed. 

Why some city people who visit the country should 
disregard, except by ridicule, the polite, if rustic, bow 
of country adults and children, I have never, from early 
years, been able to comprehend. Every such salute, not 
as respectfully acknowledged, proves the saluting party 
the better mannered of the two, no matter what the dif- 
ference in their external surroundings. A very good story 
is told of a country girl thus rudely treated. A teamster, 
bound for the city with a -load of slaughtered hogs, re- 
ceived a polite courtesy from her, and insultingly laughed 
at her for ''bowing to a lot of dead hogs." — "Oh, no," 
replied the girl, '' I bowed to the live one !" 

Like city, like country. ' ' Second-hand " articles of va- 
rious kinds are for sale everywhere. Who has been accus- 
tomed to see auction stores, or depositories where " second- 
hand" goods were for sale, and has not wondered why 
''third" and "fourth" hand goods were not advertised, 
some of the articles having been in at least "thirty " hands. 

This chapter upon the relative politeness of city and 
country people, must contain my grateful acknowledg- 
ment of the disinterested generosity of some of my newly- 
made country acquaintances, else their generosity will 
exceed my gratitude. 



FAKM ECHOES. 17 

It was touching, the promptness and eagerness with 
which they sought me, when I first came here, and offered 
me "second-hand" wagons, "second-hand" harnesses, 
and "second-hand" articles too numerous to specify; all 
** nearly as good as new," and all "very cheap." 

There were lots of — not second-hand — but broken down 
horses offered me, also whole farms, and many of them ; 
but I cannot say through how many "hands" they had 
passed. I do not ask the reader to suppose that they who 
so generously proffered these things were actuated by any 
other than disinterested motives. He must draw his 
own conclusions. The eagerness with which the arti- 
cles were offered, certainly proved the hearty desire of 
the owners that I should have them, and hence my hearty 
thanks. Happily this sort of thing did not last long. I 
had often received similar attentions in my city life, and 
was fully prepared for them. I tried to give a civil 
refusal to all such proposals, and hope I succeeded in so 
doing, though I am inclined to believe that some of my 
rejections were decidedly emphatic, and that they aided 
not a little in stopping the annoyance. 

It was so evident that some who came to me on such 
errands paid me the compliment of taking me for a fool, 
if I may be permitted to use such a word, that I hope I 
was justified in seeking comfort, I will not say revenge, 
in feeling that they admirably personated that character 
themselves. These cases were, on the whole, exceptional. 

Not a few of the farmers around mo have proved them- 
selves as noble specimens of refined and honorable men 
as can be found anywhere. Beneath a rough and un- 
polished exterior, which might, perhaps, provoke a smile 



18 FARM • ECHOES. 

from the city exquisite, I have often found men of the 
keenest and most delicate sense of refinement and honor. 
There is a saying more ancient than elegant, telling 
who made the country and who the city ; one decidedly 
complimentary to the former, but tremendously severe 
upon the latter. However distinctly the lines of separa- 
tion may have been drawn in ''the good old times," but 
few traces of them are now left. City and country have 
so intermingled as almost entirely to erase these lines. 
Each, to a great extent, shares the good and bad of the 
other. Each sustains the other. 

Do not give this part of the country credit for the fol- 
lowing, for it belongs to another rural district. 

It is said that three farmers went to New York to sell 
an article in which they were jointly interested. Having 
disposed of it advantageously, and being flush of money, 
they resolved to go to a leading and fashionable restaurant 
and have ''a grand dinner. New York style." It was left 
with the proprietor of the establishment to furnish what 
he considered ''first-rate." They made up their minds 
that they would have to pay prohcbly as much as five dol- 
lars each, fifteen dollars in all, and were astounded when 
called upon to pay forty-five dollars, fifteen dollars each. 
Of course, there was nothing for them to do but settle 
their bill and leave. Out they went, full of wrath be- 
cause of the imposition which they supposed had been 
practised upon them. Two of the three kept up a long 
and lively abuse of the proprietor, when the third came 
to their relief with the consoling announcement "Never 
mind, my friends ; that bad man has been punished for 
his sin. I have his spoons in my pocket." 



FARM ECHOES. 



19 




20 FARM ECHOES. 

CHAPTEK III. 
LITCHFIELD. 

Though New England abounds in charming villages, 
none are more lovely in aspect or healthy in location, 
than Litchfield, Connecticut. Nowhere in our country 
is there a more intellectual and delightful society than 
here, though there evidently was a time in the early his- 
tory of the village when this was not the case, for the 
wife of one of the first settlers wrote home to her family 
in England that she '*had no society but wolves and 
Presbyterians." Poor secluded lady ! It is a pity she 
did not explain which she most dreaded. 

Litchfield has its Episcopal, Congregational, Method- 
ist, and Catholic Churches, its first National Bank, its 
*' Litchfield Enquirer," its three Hotels, and numerous 
boarding-houses for the summer boarders, who come here 
in large and annually increasing numbers. 

Extensive manufactories of various kinds are success- 
fully worked in surrounding towns, but there are none in 
this village. Its "aristocracy" is accused of having re- 
tarded its commercial prosperity. Whether this be the 
case or not, the refining influences which have so long 
pervaded the community are noticeable everywhere. 

The longevity of some of its inhabitants is, certainly, a 
proof of its healthfulness. There are several remarkable 
cases of advanced age in this neighborhood. It was 
stated by one that the period between the ages of ninety- 
nine and one hundred was the most critical of human life, 
so that it is impossible to say who will reach the five score. 

Some years ago a member of the Litchfield Congrega- 



FARM ECHOES. 21 

tional Society attended service in the church on the one 
hundredth anniversary of his birth. The pews were then 
so arranged that the congregation faced the door, and as 
he entered all rose as a mark of respect, and remained 
standing until he was seated in his pew. 

I recently visited a lady residing about four miles from 
me, who is more than a hundred years old, having been 
born February 12, 1780. Although suffering from the 
effects of a cold which had troubled her for several weeks, 
she bore none of those signs of extreme old age which are 
so distressing to behold. For eighty years she has occupied 
the house in which she now lives. In early youth, if not 
in childhood, she became "a. child of God," and seems to 
have had great enjoyment in her religious experience. 
When I dwelt upon the many years she had been spared 
to test the power of religion, and asked if she had ever 
had cause to regret the choice she made in early life, she 
answered most emphatically, "No, indeed." At the re- 
quest of her grandson (himself the head of a family), 
she sang a hymn for me, and I was impressed by the 
selection she made : 

" O when shall I see Jesus ?" 
No wonder this aged pilgrim, longing for her eternal 
home, was prompted to ask this question in sacred song. 

The dryness of the atmosphere in this region of country 
is remarkable. Though the thermometer registers a lower 
temperature than in New York, or Philadelphia, for in- 
stance, the winter's cold is not felt so much as in those 
cities. There is no such dampness here as there, piercing 
one through and through. 

The history of Litchfield is too well and too favorably 



23 FAEM ECHOES. 

known to call for any extended publicity at my hands. 
Interesting histories of this town have been written by 
Hon. George 0. WoodrufE and by Mr. Payne K. Kilbourn, 
who narrate numerous thrilling incidents connected with 
the Indians in the early settlement of the town, and with 
the War of Independence, Litchfield having been an im- 
portant depot for military stores and provisions, at the 
latter period. From these historians I shall make several 
extracts. 

The Indian deed of this town was executed March 2, 
1715-16. It may gratify some of my readers to know by 
whom it was signed, though I do not suppose they will 
recognize among the signatures those of any old personal 
acquaintances, unless it be one in the list who certainly 
has numerous descendants at the present day, scattered 
everywhere, and I fear not a few of them "descend" 
fearfully low. It is correctly placed as the second "C," 
so liable is it to cause people to see double. Who that 
seeks the companionship of such a crooked thing as a 
"corkscrew" can expect to keep straight ? 
(copy.) 
Signed, sealed, and delivered in our presence. 

Cliusqunnoaz ^ his mark [L. S. 
Weroamaug ]t Ws mark. Corkscrew his mark [L. S. 

Wognacug % liis mark. Quiump ^ his mark [L. S. 

Tonhocks ~t~ his mark. Magnash + his mark [L. S. 

Kehow ^ his mark [L. S. 

John Mitchell. Sepunkum his mark [L. S. 

Joseph Minor. Poni (^ his mark [L. S. 

Wonposet ^ his mark [L. S. 
Suckqunnackqueen /" his mark [L. S. 

Taweeume ^ his mark [L. S. 

Mansumpansh (j his mark pi<. S. 



FARM ECHOES. 23 

The legal phraseology now in use, "Know all men by 
these presents," does not seem to have been observed m 
those by-gone days ; nor yet the one substituted for it, 
doubtless by some miserable, disappointed, and cross- 
grained old bachelor, '^Know one woman, so that all 
men will be sure to know. " 

The following interesting narrative is from " Travels 
in New England and New York," by President Dwight, 
of Yale College : 

"Not many years after the county of Litchfield began 
to be settled by the English, a strange Indian came one 
day into an inn in the town of Litchfield in the dusk of 
the evening, and requested the hostess to furnish him 
with some drink and supper. At the same time he ob- 
served that he could pay for neither, as he had no success 
in hunting, but promised payment as soon as he should 
meet with better fortune. The hostess refused him both 
the drink and the supper ; called him a lazy, drunken, 
good-for-nothing fellow, and told him that she did not 
work so hard herself, to throw away her earnings upon 
such creatures as he was. 

"A man who sat by, and observed that the Indian, then 
turning about to leave so inhospitable a place, showed by 
his countenance that he was suffering very severely from 
want and weariness, directed the hostess to supply him 
what he needed, and engaged to pay the bill himself. 

*' She did so. When the Indian had finished his sup- 
per, he turned to his benefactor, thanked him, and as- 
sured him that he should remember his kindness, and, 
whenever he was able, would faithfully recompense it. 

" For the present, he observed, he could only reward him 



24 FARM ECHOES. 

with a story, which, if the hostess would give him leave, 
he wished to tell. The hostess, whose complacency had 
been recalled by the prospect of payment, consented. 

"The Indian, addressing himself to his benefactor, 
said : ' I suppose you read the Bible ?' The man assented. 
'Well,' said the Indian, 'the Bible say God made the 
world, and then He took him and looked on him and 
say: 'It's all very good.' Then He made light, and 
took him and looked on him and say : ' It's all very good.' 
Then He made dry land and water, and sun and moon, 
and grass and trees, and took him and looked on him, 
and say : 'It's all very good.' 

" ' Then he made beasts, and birds, and fishes, and 
took him and looked on him, and say : ' It's all very 
good. ' 

" 'Then He made man, and took him and looked on 
him and say: 'It's all very good.' Then He made 
woman, and took him and looked on him, and He no 
dare say one such word.' 

" The Indian having told his story, withdrew. 

"Some years after, the man who had befriended him 
had occasion to go some distance into the wilderness, be- 
tween Litchfield, then a frontier settlement, and Albany, 
where he was taken prisoner by an Indian scout, and car- 
♦ried to Canada. "When he arrived at the principal settle- 
ment of the tribe, on the southern border of the St. 
Lawrence, it was proposed by some of the captors that 
he should be put to death. During the consultation an 
old Indian woman demanded that he should be given up 
to her, that she might adopt him in the place of a son 
whom she had lost in the war. He was accordingly 



FARM ECHOES. 25 

given to her, and lived throngli the succeeding winter in 
her family, experiencing the customary effects of savage 
hospitality. 

" The following summer, as he was at work in the forest 
alone, an unknown Indian came up to him, and asked 
him- to meet him at a place which he pointed out on a 
given day. The prisoner agreed to the proposal, but not 
without some apjjrehensioDS that mischief was intended 
him. During the interval, these api^rehehsions increased 
to such a degree as to dissuade him effectually from ful- 
filling his engagement. Soon after, the same Indian 
found him at his work again, and very gravely reproved 
him for not performing his promise. The man apolo- 
gized awkwardly enough, but in the best manner in his 
poAver. The Indian told him that he should be satisfied 
if he would meet him at the same place on a future day 
which he named. The man j)romised to meet him, and 
fulfilled his promise. When he arrived at the spot, he 
found the Indian provided with two muskets, ammuni- 
tion for them, and knapsacks. The Indian ordered him 
to take one of each and follow him. The direction of 
their march was towards the south. The man followed, 
without the least knowledge of what he was to do, or 
whither he was going, but concluded that if the Indian 
intended him harm, he would have dispatched him at the 
beginning, and that, at the worst, he was as safe where 
he was as he could be in any other place. Within a 
short time, therefore, his fears subsided, although the 
Indian observed a profound and mysterious silence con- 
cerning the object of the expedition. In the day-tim.e 
they shot such game as came in their way, and at night 
2 



26 FARM ECHOES. 

kindled a fire, by which they slept. After a tedious 
journey of many days they came one morning to the top 
of an eminence presenting a prospect of a cultivated 
country in which were a number of houses. 

''The Indian asked his companion whether he knew 
the place. He replied eagerly that it was Litchfield. 
His guide then, after reminding him that he had so many 
years before relieved the wants of a famishing Indian, at 
an inn in that town, subjoined, ' I that Indian ; now I 
pay you, go home.' 

'•'Having said this he bade him adieu, and the man 
joyfully returned to his home." 

The famous Law School of Judges Eeeves and Gould, 
established here by the former in 1784, and continued 
by the latter until 1833, has given Litchfield an almost 
world-wide reputation. Judge George C. Woodruff says : 
"Young gentlemen from every section of our nation 
were educated here, and not a few have been distinguished 
as statesmen and jurists." He also refers in compli- 
mentary terms to the Fern-ale Seminai-y opened here by 
Miss Pierce, in 1792, and continued under her superin- 
tendence for nearly forty years. 

Aaron Burr (brother-in-law of Judge Eeeves) "became 
intimately associated with Litchfield." 

Colonel Tallmadge, who had charge of Major Andre, 
and to whom that unfortunate "Adjutant-General to the 
British Army" gave his open letter of confession, who 
escorted that brave, but doomed man to the scaffold, and 
who subsequently wrote : "I became so deeply attached 
to Major Andre that I can remember no instance where 
my affections were so fully absorbed in any man," made 



FARM ECHOES. 27 

Litchfield his home after the war, and the Tallmadge 
House, on North street, is an object of no little interest. 

General Oliver Wolcott, one of the signers of the Dec- 
laration of Independence, resided in Litchfield. It was 
in his house, also a prized relic of the past, that the 
leaden statue of George III. , destroyed in New York, and 
sent here for that purpose, was melted into bullets. His 
son, Governor Oliver Wolcott, Jr. , was born here, as was 
also General Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga. 

The Rev. Lyman Beecher was for sixteen years pastor 
of " The First Ecclesiastical Society of Litchfield" (Con- 
gregational). His six sermons on Intemperance, preached 
here were "among the earliest and most effective means 
of arousing the Christian world to the evils of intemper- 
ance." It was in this church that the disturbance took 
place, because of a proposition by some of the members 
to heat the building with a stove. Such an innovation 
was violently opposed by many, but a stove was finally 
placed m the center aisle. The weather on the succeed- 
ing Sunday being mild, no fire was made in the stove. 

I am informed by a gentleman Avho was present at the 
time, though so many years ago, that some amusing 
scenes were witnessed. Those of the congregation in 
favor of the stove manifested their delight in various 
ways. Some availed themselves of the opportunity to 
Avarm themselves by it before going to their pews, taking 
care so to protect their clothing that it would not be 
burned by coming m contact with it. 

The anti-stove members were greatly disturbed. Some 
were so overcome by the excessive heat as to resort to 



28 FARM ECHOES. 

fans. One was obliged to leave the cliurcli, and another 
actually fainted or imagined that she had done so. 

Dr. Buel's Home for Nervous Invalids, established 
here by him in 1858, is now in the height of its prosperity, 
and continues to dispense blessings to many who seek its 
shelter, and none the less surely, because so unostenta- 
tiously. The County Court House tells that Litchfield is 
the County Seat of Litchfield County. 

Lastly, because in chronological order, Litchfield is the 
home of the late Chief Executive of this State, tlie Hon. 
Charles B. Andrews. 

This charming spot is about twenty-five miles west of 
Hartford, and one hundred miles northeast of New York 
City. It is approached, on all sides, by excellent country 
roads, and by the Shepaug Eailroad, which connects it 
with New York, etc., via Norwalk, also by the Nauga- 
tuck Railroad, which runs from Bridgeport to Winsted. 
Both of these Eailroads pass through valleys (the Shepaug 
and Naugatuck from which they derive their names), 
abounding in wild and beautiful scenery. 

Litchfield is steadily advancing in public favor, as a 
place of summer resort, as is shown by the annual addi- 
tion of dwellings erected by the best class of citizens 
from New York, New Haven, and elsewhere, and by the 
increase of summer boarders. The village stands proudly 
upon an eminence of about eleven hundred feet above the 
sea, as if conscious of its past history and its present at- 
tractiveness. 



FARM ECHOES. 29 

CHAPTER IV. 
IS FARMING RESPECTABLE? 

No wonder the reader smiles at a question so intensely 
absurd. 

However unnecessary it may appear to every well bal- 
anced mind, there are some, I hope not many, whose 
minds are, unfortunately, not well balanced, and who 
need to be enlightened upon this subject. 

It is an old saying, and I am sorry to add, a very true 
one, that " all the fools are not dead yet," for some have 
crossed my path, in changing from city to country life, 
Avho manifested such an aversion to the occupation of 
farming as would cause those not on their guard to sus- 
pect that there must be something discreditable insepa- 
rably connected with it. 

Do I go far enough back, and to a source sufficiently 
high and convincing, whcm I quote from the first and 
second chapters of my Bible ? 

" God said Let there be light ; and there was light." 
So it was m regard to the " firmament," etc. " He spake 
and it was done." Not so, however, in the creation of 
the "Garden eastward in Eden." ''The Lord God 
planted " it Himself, we are distinctly told. Having put 
this garden in perfect order, and having watered it by the 
river which he made to pass through it, a fit and beauti- 
ful emblem of that river ''the streams whereof shall 
make glad the City of God," He placed the man whom 



30 FARM ECHOES. 

He created in His own image — man before he had sinned 
— ^in the garden, " to dress it, and to keep it." 

The laborious work had all been done, man had only 
'*to dress it, and to keep it." There were no thorns nor 
thistles then. No ''sweat of the brow," nor aught to 
weary or sadden. No curse nor death. The labor and 
toil, the curse and death, came after Adam's sin, and 
were endured outside the garden, not in it. No place is 
now exempt from them. Aching and sweating brows are 
everywhere where there is toil, whether it be in the study, 
the counting-house, the workshop, or the farm, God's 
chosen occupation for sinless man was that of "keeping" 
the field or garden He had planted and stocked for him, 
God thus made Agriculture the most honored and digni- 
fied calling in which man could be engaged, 

Noah was no sooner out of the Ark than he " began to 
be a husbandman " ; so that husbandry was the first oc- 
cupation of man before and after the flood. Abraham 
*' was rich in cattle." Lot also "had flocks and herds." 

Isaac "Avent out to meditate in the field at eventide," 
but it was not, it may safely be supposed, upon the 
product of that field that he then meditated, for the 
young man, we are informed, "lifted up his eyes and 
saw the camels were coming." Knowing the errand 
upon which they started, his thoughts doubtless centered 
in the fair young maiden who accompanied them on their 
return. Afterwards, however, he is found sowing in the 
land of Gerar, and so successful was his farming, that 
he made "an hundred fold" the first year, and soon pos- 
sessed such flocks and herds, and such influence, as made 
the king dread his power and request him to move else- 



FARM ECHOES. 31 

where, and then to seek him, whither he had removed, 
in order to secure his favor. 

It was not in the palace of Egypt's king that God pre- 
pared Moses to be the leader of Israel's mighty host, but 
in keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law. It was 
not in the palace of Saul, but in caring for his father's 
sheep, that David was qualified to become the ruler of a 
kingdom. 

Gideon was called from the "threshing floor" to fight 
and subdue the Midianitish host. 

Elisha, while in the act of plowing, was honored by 
God with the mantle of the Prophet Elijah. 

XJzziah "loved husbandry," and if the youthful king 
of Judali had been content with such lawful pastime, he 
might have escaped leprosy. 

Paul was a tent-maker. The first disciples of our 
blessed Lord were fishermen, and though the Son of God 
was a carpenter, yet shepherds, busy " keeping watch over 
their flocks by night," were the chosen ones to whom the 
Angels first announced the "glad tidings" of His birbh. 
He "was of the house and lineage of David," and took 
many of His parables from agricultural pursuits. He re- 
peatedly pictured them in His favorite expression "The 
kingdom of Heaven is likened unto " — and not only 
represented Himself as "He that soweth the good seed," 
but gloried in the fact that His Father was "The Hus- 
bandman." 

Despise not the Abrahamic calling, however much and 
however justly you may despise the unworthy ones en- 
gaged in it. They disgrace themselves, not their calling. 
It cannot be thus tarnished. In turning from sacred to 



32 FARM ECHOES. 

profane history, we will carry with ns the echo of the 
Almighty's voice : 

"the cattle upox a thousand hills ahe mine." 

The Ancients engaged extensively in farming, and 
deemed it the loftiest occupation in which they could be 
employed. Cincinnatus, Cato, and others, might be cited 
as representative men of their times, who left their plows 
and hastened to the rescue of their country. Though 
they did not beat their " swords into plowshares," they 
gladly returned from the fields they had reddened with 
the blood of their enemies, to those they made ''white 
unto the harvest." Farmers by j^reference, they were 
the ablest of statesmen and warriors when thus needed. 

Down through the intervening ages there have been 
hosts of just such brave and true men, though not so 
conspicuous, who have been trained in farming districts 
and in farm pursuits, for just such heroic deeds. 

Connecticut boasts of her Putnam, who left his plow 
for a like noble purpose. Washington's chief delight was 
in working his farm ; and he was as great and as honored 
there, as when leading the army or presiding over the 
affairs of this nation, which, in common with all other 
nations, to-day looks to its rural districts for defence 
from any present or impending foe. 

The following is quoted from "Letters of Agricola," 
published at Halifax, N. S., in 1822, by John Young, 
Esquire, Secretary of the Provincial Agricultural Society 
of Nova Scotia, and Honorary Member of the Massachu- 
setts and Montreal Agricultural Societies, who did much 
through his writings, and by his practical and successful 



FARM ECHOES. 33 

farming at Willow Park, Halifax, to advance the science of 
his chosen and honored profession. " In England, Dukes, 
Marquises, Earls, Baronets, and all ranks of nobility emu- 
late each other, not merely in patronizing husbandry, but 
in actively engaging in it. " Would that the large landed 
proprietors in England and Ireland were more generally 
engaged in agricultural pursuits. There is infinitely 
more honor and more enjoyment in these employments 
than in the jjastime in which some indulge. To monojj- 
olize vast tracts of the most fertile lands in these fertile 
Islands, and persist in keeping them in an unproductive 
state, neither tilling them, nor suffering them to be tilled ; 
thus denying to thousands of poor but honest husband- 
men a means of subsistence, rather than permit them to 
labor for their own support, and for the direct and mani- 
fest benefit of their employers or landlords ; is very much 
like having ten talents and burying them all in a napkin. 
If there are duties devolving upon the rich, as well as the 
poor, such landed proprietors fall far short of performing 
theirs. The grand inscription upon the Eoyal Exchange, 
in London, 

"The earth is the Lord's and the fuhiess thereof," 
is a silent but decided rebuke to them. 

Were it only the private interests of such men that 
suffer by this exclusiveness, or whatever it may be called, 
there would be no such ground for complaint as is called 
forth by this great national abuse. 

Prince Edward Island, one of the fairest and most pro- 
ductive garden spots on earth, suffered long and sorely 
from that remnant of the feudal system. Seigniories. The 
burden became too grievous to be longer endured, and 



S4 FAEM ECHOES. 

the Colonial Government, not many years ago, threw off 
the yoke by purchase. A disheartened people, thus re- 
leased, were encouraged to improve what now became 
their property, and have ever since steadily and surely 
added to the prosperity of the Island, as well as to their 
own. There is no reason to suppose that the former pro- 
prietors were any the worse off for having received an 
equivalent for what they sold. 

To. retard, in any way, the prosperity of one's country, 
especially in diminishing its food-yielding- cajjacity, is to 
prove one's self its enemy. 

The model farm of the late Prince Consort of England 
was the pride of that model man, and is one of the grand- 
est monuments to his honored name. 

It was said, I think, by Jefferson, that '' If God had a 
peculiar people upon earth, they were the farmers." The 
*'if " here is to be regretted. God certainly has His ''pe- 
culiar people :" not, however, the farmers, nor any other 
class of men as such, but all who rightly discharge the 
duties devolving upon them, whether in the pulpit, on 
the farm, or elsewhere. The husbandman is a co-worker 
with God in a "peculiar" sense. No other class of men 
are such to a greater degree except those ordained of Him 
to the Divine Ministry. The one studies the Inspired 
Book, and labors to unfold its mysteries, and make 
known its truths. The other is constantly studying 
God's book of Nature, and finds it so filled with mystery 
as to be an independent and conclusive Avitness for its 
Creator. He sees God everywhere in Nature, and finds 
it but a short step to turn from Nature to Nature's God. 

Every thoughtful, right-minded farmer has an inspira- 



FARM ECHOES. 35 

tion not found in any other calling. He works God's 
earth, preparing it for the desired crops, and when all is 
ready he plants the seed. There his work ceases. He 
can do no more, for God alone can ''give the increase." 
In due time myriads of blades of grass or grain make 
their appearance as so many messengers sent by the 
Almighty to tell him of the coming harvest. He rever- 
ently feels that God and he have thus worked together, 
and goes forth with grateful heart to receive the ripened 
grain direct from the hand of the Creator. 



36 FARM ECHOES. 



CHAPTER V. 
EARLY EXPERIENCES. 

I left Philadelpliia early in the spring of 1870 for Litch- 
field, Conn., to put my summer residence in order for 
my family. From East Litchfield Station, on the Nau- 
gatuck Eailroad, I came by stage three miles, over roads 
up hill nearly all the way, and very heavy from the frost 
coming out of the ground. 

At the summit of tlie hill, having reached an altitude 
of nearly twelve hundred feet above the sea — quite high 
enough for any stars belonging to this planet, I alighted 
at my new home, and, as I wrote my family, " went two 
feet into the mud." My letter created no little surprise, 
as all who read it, or heard of it, supposed that I had 
been mired np to my knees, but such was not the case. 
The mud was quite harmless, and though I went into it 
"two feet" — that is, both feet — the depth was not more 
than an inch or so. 

I had often seen much Avorse roads, though none half 
as bad as some I have heard of, where, for instance, a 
man was working his way along as best he could, and 
came to a hat which he picked up in the middle of the 
road. To his surprise he found he had lifted it from the 
head of a man enveloped in the mud, who smilingly looked 
up and asked for an explanation. The hat was at once 
replaced upon the head of its owner, with an apology, and 



PAEM ECHOES. 37 

with an offer of assistance. — '^ Oh ! no, I thank you," was 
the reply, "I have an excellent horse under me, and shall 
get along nicely, though somewhat slowly." 

Numerous mechanics were busy (I hope they will for- 
give me for using the word), finishing Avork upon my 
house and house stable, commenced the previous fall, at 
the time I purchased the property, so that my dwelling 
did not offer many attractions. 

A good-natured friend, who accompanied me from 
Philadelphia, had been warned in advance that he would 
have to rough it, and he enjoyed the roughing exceed- 
ingly. He did not suffer as I feared he might, but I 
had grave apprehensions that he would suffer in another 
way, for his appetite became almost boundless, such was 
the effect of the climate upon him. 

The record of one breakfast will show that I had good 
cause for alarm. As to the number of cups of coffee at 
that meal, I cannot say positively ; but after having 
helped him three times to beefsteak, I remained at the 
table until he had eaten sixteen griddle cakes of about 
double the usual size, and then asked to be excused for a 
short time, as it was necessary that I should give direc- 
tions to the men at work on the grounds around my house. 
I found him eating beefsteak on my return. How much 
of this was due to Litchfield air, and how much to an 
excellent imported cook, I leave it with my readers to 
imagine. It may be well to add, and it will undoubtedly 
surprise them, that my friend is yet alive. 

It IS all important that the steamers, in shooting the 
rapids of the St. Lawrence, get into the right part of the 
current before it becomes too strong, otherwise they could 



38 FAKM ECHOES. 

not choose their position, nor change it if wrong, and 
would inevitably be dashed to pieces. 

So I felt, on entering upon the new and untried work 
of clearing land, etc., I must get started right. It would 
never do to make a wrong beginning. Everything de- 
pended upon my being thoroughly posted at the outset. 
This I fully resolved should be the case, nor was it long 
before I realized that I had accomplished this, and a little 
more. There was an ugly old hitching post right in the 
way where I wished to make a carriage drive. Out it 
must come, happen what would, though I had no idea 
that anything of that kind was going to happen, until 
all was over, and I too. Indeed, I did not, for a few 
moments after, know exactly what had occurred. I was 
no sooner conscious that I was heels and post overhead, 
than I " righted " myself, and made a careful survey all 
around, to see if there were any lookers-on. It was a 
comfort to know that there were none. The secret was 
wholly with myself, externally, and, I may add, internally, 
for my bones ached some. There certainly was a "hitch" 
in that post that I was not prepared for. I had taken 
my first lesson, and proved myself equal to getting out 
old hitching posts. I had also learned some of the ups 
and downs of country life, and when the back of my head 
came too suddenly in contact with the ground, I saw stars 
that I am sure were not members of my family. 

It afforded no little amusement to many of the old 
farmers to see the way in which I began to clear land. 
I frankly acknowledge I was, at times, wholly at a loss 
how to proceed. I was as much ''at sea" as though I 
had been in mid ocean. 



FAKM ECHOES. 39 

Some excellent advice was occasionally volunteered. It 
was always thankfully received, and suitably acknowl- 
edged. Sometimes absurd suggestions were seriously 
made to me, but not seriously entertained. 

All attempts to argue with me were thwarted as I in- 
variably and good naturedly assured the parties at the 
outset, that I was ignorant upon all such matters, and 
had made up my mind to learn by experience. One in- 
stance of this kind will suffice. 

Not far from my stable was a large ledge of rocks, in 
the midst of an ugly, swampy piece of land. Of course, 
such places, especially those in the vicinity of my dwel- 
ling, received the earliest attention. The swamp was 
drained. The huge ledge was torn to pieces by j)owder, 
and the rocks from it were used in building walls and in 
filling up the hollow where the swamp had been. Hun- 
dreds of loads of earth from a near and accessible bank 
were then carted into it, and an ample supply of muck 
was spread over the surface and well worked into the 
earth. The muck had previously been piled up and dried, 
subject to a winter's frost, and the spreading was done in 
the middle of summer. Muck beds in the vicinity had 
been left undisturbed by my neighbors, who enjoyed many 
a hearty laugh at the idea of the ''city farmer" expecting 
to produce any crop by any such means. 

A few gave their opinions concerning my methods un- 
asked, and in terms by no means complimentary. All 
agreed that muck was never so used ; that it should be 
put into a compost heap, etc. , etc. It was in my power 
to turn upon them and ask why their muck beds had 
never been put to any such use, and why they did not 



40 FARM ECHOES. 

make compost hoaj)s, etc., but I preferred to fall back 
upon my stereotyped answer *'You know I am learning 
by experience. Several person? liave told me just what 
you have. I have heard all that you and they have to 
suggest, now I am going to wait and hear what the muck 
ha? to say. It shall speak for itself next summer." 

Grass seed was sown in this much abused ground, and 
'Hook "well. Early next spring I called the attention 
of one who had most heartily enjoyed my supposed blun- 
der, and who happened to be passing, to the promising 
prospects of the grass. " Oli !" said he, "that is a mere 
spurt. That will never mature. I told you so last sum- 
mer. It will all die out, see if it don't." 

" Do you really think that such will be the case ? " I 
asked. ''How can it go back ?" The old laugh of half 
pity and half ridicule was given, and off went my self- 
satisfied, though really much esteemed, brother farmer. 
No land on my farm yielded such an abundant crop of 
hay that summer as did that once SAvampy and unsightly 
spot. 

So mortified was the good man to whom I just referred, 
that he came to me a year or two afterwards, and asked 
me to please never tell any one what he had said, as he 
was thoroughly ashamed of having made such a mistake. 
The mistake was in treating all muck alike ; that which 
13 cold and sour in the same way as that which is of a 
totally different nature. 

One field included in my original purchase was so un- 
promising, so absolutely worn out and exhausted, that I 
was puzzled to know what to do with it. It Avas so covered 
with mossy clumps as to drive out of existence every 



FARM ECHOES. 41 

blade of grass. Again and again I walked over that deso- 
late field hoping to devise some means to " subdue " it, 
and make it profitable, but eacli time came to the con- 
clusion that it was an elephant on my hands, one that 
had not yet been mastered. Thougli measuring about 
nine and a half acres, it was simply worthless. The 
taxes upon it must be paid annually, and what could I 
do with it ? Should I give it away ? I would be richer 
without it than with it. I did not like the idea of jriv- 
ing away what I bad Just paid for, nor could I see any 
generosity in presenting to a neighbor such a piece of 
property. 

As I met the more thrifty and successful farmers, I 
asked their opinions as to what was best to be done with 
that field. They all knew it well, but no two gave the 
same advice. This seemed very strange and was the first 
thing to inspire me with confidence in my own judgment 
in farming matters. Here were four intelligent farmers, 
all having years of experience, and yet no two of them 
would treat that field in the same way ! What an odd 
field it would be, thought I, if handled in all the four 
different ways recommended. 

After giving the matter the requisite attention, I re- 
solved to branch out on my own account. Something 
must be done and promptly done if that wretched field 
was to be put into a paying condition. 

The opinions of all the four farmers were collected as 
best they could be, and carefully weighed in the scale of 
common sense. Ideas were here and tliere culled out of 
this confused mass, and coupled with some that were 
original. Havmg thus gathered sufficient material to 



42 FARM ECHOES. 

warrant ray doing so, I went vigorously to work, de- 
termined to accomplish what I had undertaken, whatever 
difficulties might present themselves. 

The results proved a decided success. That field has 
each year yielded me a handsome return for the money 
and labor expended upon it. Had 1 faltered, I do not 
know that I should ever again have had courage to attack 
such an unpromising piece of ground. It does not do 
for a beginner to lack courage, even on a farm. He must 
have nerve, and plenty of it, for there are few jDlaces where 
it will be put to the test as on a farm properly conducted. 
There must be no ''old feerds" nor "young feerds," 
as is shown in the experience of the sea captain who, 
after many years of ocean travel, decided to give up the 
sea, and settle upon a farm. He took with him, to his 
farm, an old monkey he had brought with him from the 
West Indies, a notoriously mischievous scamp. Among 
the farm hands was a boy named John, who had re- 
peatedly been complained of for bringing the cows home 
too late in the evenings. Finding that his orders were 
not obeyed, the captain impressed upon John more 
strongly than ever, that the cows must be got home in 
time to be milked before dark. 

"John, ai'nt you foerd to come through the woods 
in the dark?" he asked— "Feerd ! What is feerd?" 
inquired John. — "If you don't know what feerd is, I 
will teach you, if you don't get the cows home early 
enough." John continued to be late, and the captain, 
fully resolved upon carrying out his threat, started from 
the house with a large white sheet. Arriving at the 
woods, he took his position on a stump at a turn in the 



FAEM ECHOES. 43 

path, where the boy would come suddenly upon him. As 
John came in sight, the captain, wrapped in the sheet, 
extended both arms full length, and expected his boy 
would make for home full speed. John, however, stood 
calmly before the mysterious object, and, after surveying 
it for a while, as calmly exclaimed : " What can that be ? 
Master spoke about " feerd,' I guess that must be 
*feerd.' Yes! That, I guess, is Old Feerd, and that 
other by his side must be Young Feerd." 

Hearing of another "feerd,"' the captain stole a sly 
side glance to his left, from under the sheet, and was 
surprised to find such an object near him. Alarmed 
by the apparition, he took to his heels and was closely 
followed by the monkey, who always felt bound to do 
just what his master did, and, like him, was robed in 
white. 

There is usually a garden, even if only a small one, 
connected with a farm. Some country or farm gardens 
that I had seen before coming here, appeared to abound 
in nothing but sun-flowers, probably because there were 
so many of that delicate and modest-faced plant as to 
keep the sun from all the others, and thus kill them, 
poor things ! 

It is well that farming is not inseparably connected 
with gardening, for I have no taste for the latter, though 
a decidedly keen one for the products of a well-kept 
garden. Mine is a taste that makes fruits and vegetables 
fresh from a garden, preferable to those that have spent 
the best portion of their brief existence seeking a pur- 
chaser, often not finding one until over-ripe old age. 

When I first came here I was presented by a friend 



44 FARM ECHOES. 

with numerous valuable cuttings, and felt in duty bound 
to gi\e them my personal attention. They were all 
planted with the utmost care, perhaps too much of it, 
for not one of them took root, so far as could be seen. 
It did not occur to me to ask the members of the Chinese 
Embassy, when they honored me with a visit a year or two 
ago, whether they had heard of, or seen, before leaving 
China, any of these cuttings or the results of them. I had 
planted them years previously upside down, and if they 
appeared anywhere, it must have been at the antipodes. 

I am, certainly, not alone in my aversion to garden 
exercise, for Mr. Warner's account of his " Summer in a 
Garden," convinces me that he has not spent a second 
one there, and never will. A record kept one summer 
showed that twenty-four different kinds of vegetables, 
and thirteen varieties of fruit, including peaches grown in 
the open air, were raised on my premises. 

The numerous letters written me after the publication 
of the proceedings at the meeting of the State Board of 
Agriculture, held at New London, December, 1877, at 
which I was unexpectedly called upon to explain the re- 
sults of my experiments in blasting with dynamite, lead 
me to suppose that a repetition of my remarks will not 
be out of place here. 

The Board having been called to order by Hon. E. H. 
Hyde, Vice-president, Mr. T. S. Gold, the Secretary, said : 
'' I have been unable to present to the audience the ques- 
tions from the question-box for lack of time, but there is 
one question which I promised to present, and as I see a 
gentleman before me who is able to answer it, I will read 
it now. 



FARM ECHOES. 45 

"Has any one present had any experience with Dyna- 
mite, or Giant Powder, in clearing rocks from land ? If 
so, will he give the result ? 

" Mr. Starr, of Litchfield, can give us some information 
on that point." 

Mr. Starr — " I will say that I know but very little 
about this matter, except from results as shown on rny 
fields. A Mr. Parmelee, who makes it his business to 
blow up rocks with dynamite, passed my place, and I 
asked him to experiment in one of my fields, which I 
expect to clear next summer. There were a large num- 
ber of rocks in the field, such as could not very well be 
blasted with powder, and I asked him what he could do. 
I said : ' I want you to experiment, and if you can satisfy 
me I will let you work here for a day or two.' I pointed 
out a rock ten and one-half feet long, five and one-half 
feet wide, and nine or ten inches in depth — such a rock, 
as any one will see, would be difficult to blast with pow- 
der, because there is not depth enough to drill into it. I 
took out my watch, and in precisely seven and one-half 
minutes from the time he began to work the rock was in 
atoms. I selected another and larger rock, also a shallow 
one, and he shattered it in about the same number of 
minutes. This satisfied me that it would be for my 
interest to let him work in that field that afternoon — it 
was just at noon — and I was so much pleased with the 
result of that day, that I kept him at work for two days 
and a half on my farm. His charge was, I think, eighty 
dollars, which covered everything — material, and his 
time. I have used many kegs of gunpowder, during my 
six years' experience, in blasting rocks, and am free to 



46 FAKM ECHOES. 

say, that the same amount of work could not have been 
accomplished with ordinary blasting powder, and the 
same number of men, in less than a month. I thus 
answer your question as to whether ' it pays to use 
dynamite. ' The field was left by Mr. Parmelee in a de- 
cidedly chaotic state. The rocks are so shattered and 
crumbled as to give the field the appearance of a perfect 
wreck. It is well worth going many miles to see. Though 
the number of rocks is many times greater than before, 
they are now reduced to a size easily handled, and can 
be readily removed. 

*' The action of dynamite is remarkable. For instance, 
one very large rock, white quartz, which you know is 
almost impossible to drill, was one of the stones which 
he destroyed on this field. The firsb blast threw this 
rock from its bed to the surface, and took off a small 
piece. This rather disappointed him, and the gentlemen 
who were witnessing his proceedings. He put a cartridge 
against the side of this rock above ground, secured it to 
the rock by two or three shovelfuls of mud. Powder, 
you know, would blow off that mud, and leave the rock 
untouched, but the dynamite has so shattered it that I 
can pick off numerous pieces with my hand. Some 
pieces weigh a pound, and some five or ten pounds. It 
is completely shattered. 

' ' The difference between blasting or destroying rocks 
with powder and dynamite, is this : You can make your 
own calculations as to the relative expense. In blasting 
with powder, you drill the rock ; with dynamite, you drill 
the ground. My rocks may be harder than other rocks ; 
they certainly are much harder than my land. The man 



FAKM ECHOES. 47 

makes a hole under the rock, and all that he wants is a 
little mud or water, to fill up the hole after putting in the 
charge. The resistance ajiparently amounts to nothing, 
so instantaneous is the discharge of this j)owerful agent. 
Powder must be kept confined, and it works its way out 
at the weakest point ; but with dynamite the discharge is 
so sudden and severe that it shatters the rock to jDieces, 
regardless of weak points. The rocks were not thrown 
as far as by powder. I was so pleased with the result of 
the dynamite on this one field that I set the man at work 
on three large rocks in another field, which I had never 
thought of getting rid of with powder because of their 
size. My men had dug trenches under those large rocks ; 
in one place, I suppose, they must have gone down ten or 
eleven feet, so you may judge of the size of the rock. 
The discharges were to take place at 12 o'clock, noon, so 
that persons who were interested could come and see 
them, and there was quite a crowd present. The dis- 
charges threw pieces of the rocks but a short distance, 
but they completely shattered the boulders." 

Mr. Webb — "Would the stone be suitable for building 
walls?" 

Mr. Siarr — ''A majority of the stone would not be fit 
for building walls. The dynamite destroys the stones to 
a much greater extent than does powder ; it disintegrates 
them. But I have enough for walls, and enough for the 
ravines, which the great Master who put the rocks on the 
ground provided as a receptacle for them." 

I would caution all inexperienced persons who pro- 
pose using dynamite not to meddle with it themselves, 
but to employ one who is familiar with it. It is too dan- 



48 FARM ECHOES. 

gerous to trifle with, though I have held part of a cart- 
ridge of it in my hand Avhile it burned as a blue light 
would burn. 

The field to which I had reference is now one of the 
best, if not the best, on my farm. Each of the last three 
years, while at work upon it, it has yielded about a thou- 
sand bushels of beets (Golden Globe Mangel Wurzel) to 
the acre, which reimbursed me for the amount expended 
upon it. One year I experimented with five different 
kinds of beets, but though I should prefer the red beet 
on some accounts, I find the Golden Globe by far the 
most prolific. 



FAKM ECHOES. 49 



CHAPTER VI. 
LEARNING TO PLOW. 

A novice in farm matters, my first impulse was to learn 
how to plow and do other such farm work, so as to make 
•myself a thorough master of every department, and 
thereby the more effectually supervise the whole. 

My farm was then only being put in good working order, 
so that I had none of the more important matters to look 
after, which soon engrossed my personal attention, other- 
wise I should never have touched a plow. Such labor 
can be better, and more economically performed by those 
accustomed to it. Moderate work with his hands oc- 
casionally, and any amount of toil with his brains, bring- 
ing his business knowledga so to bear upon his new en- 
gagements as to keep them well and constantly in hand, 
alone give promise of success to him who exchanges city 
life for one on a farm of large proportions, and requiring 
executive ability in whoever controls it. • 

No man in his senses would like to take passage in a 
vessel, the captain of which deemed it incumbent upon 
him to labor at the ropes and sails in common with his 
'' before the mast " men. The safety of the craft, and of 
all on board of her, and the success of the voyage, depend 
upon the executive officer rightly discharging his duty. 
Because he is not seen running to and fro with the deck 
hands, it must not be inferred that he is a mere ''figure 
head," having nothing to do. He has quite enough of 
3 



50 



FAKM ECHOES. 



his own legitimate "work to attend to, and if it bo faith- 
fully performed, he is the hardest worked man on board. 

Brain work is indisjiensable to the successful merchant. 
It will supply a vast deal more manual labor than can be 
accomplished by his hands. If more laborers are needed 
on his premises, it is economy for him to hire them rather 
than to ape them, even Avere he inclined to engage in any 
such pastime. 

By working in their respective spheres, the employer 




LEARNING TO PLOW. 



and the employed each make capital by and through the 
other, and thus mutually benefit each other. 

The reader may want to know how I succeeded in my 
first and only attempt at plowing. Everything being 
ready, and not a few lookers-on to witness results, I started 
on a course due south, at least it should have been, but 



FAEM ECHOES. 51 

it certainly was not. Though "^due" there, I never 
reached that point. It was an ordinary plow I had, yet 
it acted in a most extraordinary way, going southeast ; 
then southwest. Indeed the oxen proved so stupid that 
they could not be made to "head" as I ordered them. 
" Hard a port " had no more effect upon them than " hard 
a starboard," notwithstanding I shouted such commands 
as loudly as was possible without the aid of a speaking 
trumpet. 

At times they were bound N. N. W., then N. N. E., 
though "due" south, and I began to suspect that I was 
driving a more intelligent team than I had at first sup- 
posed, and that the knowing creatures, aware of my fond- 
ness for sailing, were "boxing the compass" for my 
gratification. Their persistent disregard of all such 
orders as "Port your helm," however, convinced me that 
such was not the case, but that they were stupid or stub- 
born. It must be taken for granted that the whole 
diflBculty was with them. 

It was not pleasant to feel that I had been imposed 
upon in having such stupid brutes recommended to me, 
and for which I hud paid full price. How could any 
farmer claiming to be respectable, thus defraud me ! 

Difficult as it may be to the reader to realize the fact, 
it was necessary for me to drop all such explicit terms as 
I had been using, — could any be more explicit ? — and 
come down to "Haw," "Whoa," and "Gee." I soon 
found an opportunity to leave the field, and handed the 
plow to another, taking good care not to return to it. 

It was not through my hands coming in contact with 
the plow that I was to gain the requisite knowledge, even 



52 FARM ECHOES. 

upon that branch of farm work. It was through my 
head, not my hands, that I was to acquire sufficient ex- 
perience to enable me, at a glance, to decide when the 
plow, or other instrument, did its full share of work, and 
effectually. 

From childhood, I have been an admirer of politeness, 
and I was touched by the courteous consideration for each 
other, shown by four men who Avere plowing on the same 
piece of ground, a thing that has not been repeated since 
that early experiment. Number one would lead off, and 
get well on with his furrow, when it so happened that 
his whip-lash needed attention, and he would stop to 
repair it, by giving it sundry turns and twists around its 
end of a long limber twig or small bough — his "whip 
stalk." Numbers two, three, and four, immediately fol- 
lowing, were thus kept back, and — can you credit it ? — 
not one of them remonstrated. All, most amiably, waited 
for number one, without manifesting the slightest im- 
patience, however long detained, and though hired by the 
hour ! Number one would hardly get started again, when 
the whip-lash of number two Avould bring him to a sudden 
stop, thus again detaining numbers three and four in his 
rear, also number one, who had reached the end of his 
furrow, and was composedly waiting for the others, so 
that he could commence his return trip, and thus get 
ready for another repair of his whip-lash. I will not say 
that it never occurred to him to make any such repairs, 
while he was Avaiting for his comrades, but I do say that 
he never availed himself of any such opportunity, for any 
such work. My eyes the sooner detected this game be- 
cause my hands had so early been withdrawn from the 



FAKM ECHOES. 53 

plow. My work was essentially that of an overseer, or 
general manager, not that of ploAving, or working with 
any farm implement. 

It made a Avonderfnl difference, putting the four plows 
into four separate pieces of land, so that the stoppage of 
any one, in no way imj)eded the others. Even the whip- 
lashes showed the benefit of this change. Oxen that 
dread the sight of a whip-lash have my hearty sympathy. 
They pay dearly for its too free use at times, especially 
if the driver happens to be in a bad humor, and has 
nothing else upon which he dare vent his anger. I too 
have paid dearly (many dollars) for the abuse of ox 
whip-lashes by needless stops to ''repair" them. 

I have often seen oxen that seemed fully to understand, 
and, be in league with, their drivers, Avho were really 
anything but "drivers." It was never necessary to say 
** Wlioa" twice, in order to halt them. It was lonsr asfo 
said that omnibus horses were the only animals that 
knew the luxury of "woe," but that is certainly a mis- 
take and must have been said by some city man. Oxen 
indulge in that luxury quite as heartily as do horses. 
Those four pairs did at all events. Their "Avhoa" 
became a woe to me so great as to be unbearable. 

I believe in oxen for certain farm work. These noble 
animals, when properly trained, as in some parts of our 
country, do a vast deal more work than do the imper- 
fectly trained ones that saunter at a snail's pace, as is too 
generally the case. Such lazy brutes do not pay nearly 
as well as do the more sprightly ones. The mevitable 
consequence of their laziness is that they make their 
drivers equally lazy. I would not intentionally do oxen 



5-i ' FARM ECHOES. 

wrong. It may be, and it, doubtless, frequently is the 
case, that lazy drivers make lazy oxen. 

I often wonder if King Pharoali had to endure any 
such trials. Though he wore the crown of Egypt, he 
too was a farmer or keeper of cattle ; and he proved his 
appreciation of them when he questioned Joseph respect- 
ing his brothers, just arrived from the land of Canaan : 
" If thou knowest any men of activity among them, then 
make them rulers over my cattle." As much as to say : 
If there are any lazy fellows among your brothers, don't 
let them disgrace my cattle by going near them. 

Horses are vastly preferable to oxen on farms properly 
cleared. Their superiority is the more apparent when 
long distances have to be travelled in drawmg hay, grain, 
or any other load, and in plowing, harrowing, etc. 
That is, they can be got over the ground much more ex- 
peditiously. A person was asked the length of a fathom, 
and replied that '"it depended upon circumstances." 
"Circumstances" often determine the speed of horses as 
well as of oxen. If any of my city readers have not 
learned this by experience, they can easily do so. Let 
them hire a cab for the trip to a certain part of the 
city, and then hire another, or the same, by the hour. 
If, in the latter case, they do not feel like putting their 
heads out of the cab window and asking the driver whose 
funeral they are attending, they Avill be more highly 
favored than most people. 

I have referred to the training of oxen. Horses are, 
of course, differently handled ; sometimes not in the best 
way, however, for the trainers, if tlie story of the sea 
captain who turned farmer, and resolved upon "subdu- 



FARM ECHOES. 



00 



ing " ca runaway nag that had been sold him, be true. lie 
took with liim a brother tar and a kcdge anchor with a 
long stout rope, one end of which was attached to it, tlie 
other end being ''made fast" to the hind axle of the 
wagon. Feeling secure with such precautions, he allowed 
his horse to have very much liis own way, but when it 




SUBDUING A BUNAWAT HORSE. 



became evident that the animal was having it all its own 
way, and was ojBf at full speed, orders were given to " Let 
go the anchor." It was "let go," and ''held" so well 
that the result was a too sudden stoppage of the wagon. 

I do not know what amount the Traveller's Insurance 
Company paid under this claim, but I take it for granted 
that the captain had sense enough to make provision for 
his family by an *' accident" policy in that excellent 
institution ! 



56 FAEM ECHOES. 



CHAPTER VII. 
FAEM HANDS. 

During my summer visits, in former years, to one of 
onr most cliarming sea-shore resorts, I became interested 
in an eccentric and favorite old fisherman, known to all 
who belonged to, or visited the place, as ''Uncle Bill," 
and I had many long and amusing talks with him. The 
old fellow would not go to "meetin," because, as he al- 
leged, they once "talked agin" him there. 

Efforts were made to take the ''meetin" to him, and 
I at times witnessed some funny scenes at his house en 
Sunday evenings. 

At first there was a sort of battledoor and shuttlecock 
game, I trying to improve my opportunity, and he cleverly, 
but not rudely, endeavoring to defeat me in what he well 
understood to be the object of my visits. In the midst 
of a serious talk one Sunday evening — serious on my side, 
at least — and when I supposed I had the attention of the 
whole family, especially as he called upon the "gals" to 
sing a hymn for me, he suddenly exclaimed : "Have you 
seen the fiddle Len made ? Len, get the fiddle, and let 
Mr. Starr hear you play it." 

I was an attentive listener for a time to as go.od music 
as might be expected from an old cigar box, of which the 
"fiddle" was constructed, and then started the shuttle- 
cock in motion agam. It was sure to come back to me 



FARM ECHOES. 57 

speedily in some shape, I well knew, but that gave me 
tlie opportunity of returning it. 

My interest in the old man increased as I became better 
acquainted with him, and much more satisfactory inter- 
views than those to which I have referred, were had with 
him. 

The poor fellow died the last summer I was at that 
sea-shore resort, and it has always been a mystery and re- 
gret to me that some of the summer visitors, who for 
years had fished with him, did not visit him in his ill- 
ness. Their neglect of duty stands out in marked con- 
trast with that of a New York physician, who recognized 
the occasion as one that warranted his laying aside pro- 
fessional etiquette, and who most faithfully endeavored 
to restore the sick man to health. 

The name, ^' Uncle Bill," having become a favorite one 
with me, I gave it to one of my "farm hands," whose 
picture is on the following page. It is an excellent like- 
ness of one who was quite as original in his way as was 
the fisherman. 

Soon after I assigned this name to him, he said to me: 
"1 am glad you call me Uncle Bill." — "Why?" I in- 
quired. — "Because some of these days some strangers 
will be passing and hear you call me Uncle Bill, and they 
will think that you are my nephew." 

One day he asked me why he was like the Duke of 
Devonshire. Confessing my ignorance, he informed 
me: " Because the Duke has his summer residence and 
his winter residence, and so have I." Pointing to the 
farm house where he lived in the summer, and then to 
my dwelling, which he took charge of during my sojourn 



68 



FABM ECHOES. 




UNCLE BILL. 



FAEM ECHOES. 59 

in Philadelphia, he added : " That is my Chatsworth, 
and that is my Ardwick Hall." He startled a member 
of my family one day, who questioned him in regard to 
the disappearance of sundry young chickens, by saying 
that the "ox had eaten them." — '* Surely oxen don't eat 
chickens, Uncle Bill." — " Oh, no, ma'am ; not the hoxen, 
but, you know, the ox." — A further explanation revealed 
the fact that the hawks had made off with some of my 
l^oultry. 

Uncle Bill looked and felt old. He was an old man, 
but not in years. The hardships and exposures of 
his life, much of it spent in deep coal mines in England, 
had been such as to make him prematurely aged. A 
slight lameness, caused by an accident in a coal pit, 
made him appear the more infirm. It was a source of no 
little gratification to him to realize that he had my fullest 
confidence. As a faithful watcher over the interests en- 
trusted to him, he prized the title of " My old watch 
dog." Woe to those whom he detected neglecting duty 
on the farm ! All such offenders were reproved by him in 
terms neither elegant nor mild. 

At one time, during a severe illness which he felt might 
end in speedy death, he expressed a wish to communicate 
something to me alone, and in confidence. He . sum- 
marily ordered the other occupants of his room to leave 
it, and I stood at his bedside fully prepared for some im- 
portant revelation — perhaps a death-bed confession of 
something as yet a secret to all but his God and himself. 

Could it be some dark deed in his past life, now Aveigh- 
ing more heavily than ever upon his conscience, in view 
of the near approach of death, and that he longed to 



60 FARM ECHOES. 

unburden himself of it to one from whom he thought he 
might receive comforting advice ? Judge of my surprise 
and relief, when I found that what he had to communi- 
cate was the confession of his neglect to inform me, at 
the time of its occurrence some year or two previous, 
that one in my employ had left open for a night, a door 
which ought to have been locked. He found it open early 
the next morning, and had ever since felt that he had 
neglected his duty in not at once reporting the fact to me. 
There was a tone of sadness in his voice which told, as 
plainly as did his words, his regret at this failure of duty. 
It was no light matter to him that I had placed confi- 
dence m him, and that he had seemingly abused it. 

I shall never forget the impression this made upon me, 
nor, I hope, the lesson it taught me. I exclaimed : 
" Happy Uncle Bill, to be thus prepared. Is this all that 
troubles you ? " 

Here was a soul about to enter eternity, as we supposed, 
and it had no greater burden resting upon it than this 
trifling matter. To tell of this open door, and then 
feel that he was prepared for whatever might take place, 
proved a childlike faith and trust rarely to be met with. 
The eye of faith was evidently lookmg upon another 
''open door," and so steadfastly as not to see any of the 
difficulties which distress those who do not take as liter- 
ally as did he, the precious promise of a precious Saviour : 
*' I am the door : by me if any man enter in he shall be 
saved." Why do so many really good people make such 
a tremendous mistake as to continually and morbidly 
dwell upon their '' unworthiness," as though self condem- 
nation were a preparation for Heaven ? We should go to 



FAEM ECHOES. 61 

" The Sinner's Friend," because of our sins, and with our 
sins, and leave them with Him. If He, as the great sin- 
bearer, and sin-pardoner, relieves us of our sins, what have 
we to do with them ? Thenceforth we have to do with 
Christ, not with our sins. He cannot be the bearer of 
them, if we bear them, or even attempt to share the 
burden. There is no such co-partnership. There is 
ample and profitable self-abasement in exalting Him who 
died to redeem us. 

Our faith and trust must ever be in Him only. Tliey 
take " the lowest place" who reserve the highest — not for 
their church, nor church forms or ceremonies be they 
what they may ; not for any frame of mind, joyous or 
despondent, nor for emotions however devout ; not for 
any vows, nor for any almsgiving ; but for their Saviour 
and their God. 

" For no foundation io there given 
On which I'd place my hopes of Heaven, 
But Christ, the comer stone." 

Uncle Bill and I had, on several occasions, conversed 
upon this subject, and he had assured me of his trust in 
Christ, as the only and all-sufficient Saviour. These as- 
surances, made when he was in comparative health, were 
now verified at the supposed dying hour. His was a 
"steadfast" faith — "Both sure and steadfast." This 
good man never wholly recovered from this illness, though 
he lingered along the journey of life a while longer. 

On his tombstone is engraved : 

"Honest, Faithful, Trustful." 

I doubt if there ever were a better set of men — a more 



03 FA KM ECHOES. 

faithful and industrious set than arc to be found on this 
farm. Thoy have been selected after years of culling out. 
Such as labored so vigorously in my presence that they 
had to rest the moment my back was turned, have been 
allowed to rest, but not at my expense. 

All are made to understand, when engaged, that I have 
no limited hours in which they are to Avork, but that they 
must work whenever needed, night or day, and I do not 
know of one who would not most readily respond to a 
call at any time during the twenty-four hours, or all the 
twenty-four, if necessary. Eegular hours are, as a gen- 
eral rule, rigidly enforced. AVlien not absolutely needed, 
the men have their stated hour for breakfast and dinner. 
Their services are dispensed with as early in the evening 
as possible. They literally go by "clock-work," but as 
the bam clock ticks with equal vigor all through the 
twenty-four hours, so they stand ready to do service 
whenever special duties are to be discharged. 

The term "Farm hands" is used only because it is 
one commonly understood, for I do not like it. I could 
not be content with the mere mechanical labor of the 
men's "hands." I must have their hearty interest and 
co-operation, and that is secured by so treating them as 
to prove that such feelings are reciprocal. It has often 
been remarked by farmers that they cannot get " farm 
hands " to work for them as industriously as do mine. 
Strangers visiting the farm have often told me the same 
thing, and I have been asked to explain how I secured 
such services. There need be no secret about it. If men 
are properly treated by those wlio employ them, whether 
it be on a farm or elsewhere, they will, as a general rule. 



FARM ECHOES. 63 

properly treat their employers. If laborers are treated 
as mere animals, capable of doing a certain amount of 
work, what right has the employer to find fault if they 
act as such? He may, in disgust, call thfm "brutes," 
but did he not hire them as such, and has lie not, to some 
extent, made them what they are ? He Vho drives hard 
bargains with those in his employ, and proves a hard 
master in his treatment of them while in his service, must 
expect to reap as he has sown. Some excellent christian 
men appear to be totally unmindful of the duty they owe 
to those in their employ. It should not be a mere mat- 
ter of dollars and cents. Though if it were only such, 
it pays vastly better to secure the hearty sympathy of 
tliose working for us, rather than have them heartlessly 
and grudgingly do as little as they possibly can — for their 
pay, not for us. 

I hope there are but few, if any, merchants who would 
deduct from the salaries of their clerks the time spent in 
vacation, or lost by sickness ; yet how many keep a rigid 
account of the moments a laborer may be off ditty. Has 
not the laborer an equal right to deny to his employer a 
moment's more work than he is compelled to give ? I 
think so. 

Generous and kind treatment on the part of the em- 
ployer, begets like generosity and kindness on the part of 
the employed, and only thus can caiiital and labor har- 
monize. 

There is a debit and credit side to this account. The 
employer and the employed must each give to the other 
ft quid pro quo. 

One winter afternoon, in Philadelphia, several years 



64 FARM ECHOES. 

ago, I Avas asked for a penny by some little girls who 
were sweeping the falling snow from the street crossings. 
A briglit and mischievous-looking lad, who was evidently 
having some fun at their expense, ran in front of me, and 
extending his hand, said in a most beseeching and pite- 
ous tone : " Please give mo a penny, sir — for doing 
noffin." It has always been a source of regret to me 
that I did not ascertain that youngster's name and ad- 
dress, and try to make something of him, for there cer- 
tainly was material in him to work upon with fair pros- 
pects of success. 

I enjoyed the sport of that little boy, but there is no 
enjoyment in employing those whose indolence prompts 
them to do ''noffin" more than they can possibly help. 
We are all busy here ; those regularly in my employ, and 
such as are hired by the day or hour. 

On one occasion the owner of an excellent ox-team and 
cart was engaged to help get in my hay. At the end of 
the third day he respectfully informed me that he would 
not be able to work for me any longer, as he must cut 
and house his own hay. His team had been sandwiched 
in between two of my own, so that each did its equal 
share of work, which proved too much for him, for he 
assured his friends that "if any one says that the men 
on Starr's farm don't have to work hard, they lie." My 
regulars were not a little amused at this outburst of a 
volunteer. 

Profanity and intemperance have ever been prohibited 
on this farm, as senseless and degrading. Oaths are 
never heard on the farm, except when uttered by some 
stranger, who is politely informed that he is speaking in 



FARM ECHOES. G5 

a ''foreign language, not understood or allowed here." 
There was some "tall swearing" when I first came 
here, and I had fre(|ucntly to draw swords with such 
offenders. 

On one occasion a teamster in "dumping" a load of 
stones, savagely ordered them to " the bad place," be- 
cause on<3 of them struck his foot. I was passing along 
the road at the time, on my way to that field, but was 
not seen by the men until I entered it. When the team- 
ster Avas ready to discharge his next load of stones, I was 
on the spot, and greatly astonished him and the other 
men, by feeling a number of stones, and expressing sur- 
prise at finding them all "quite cold, and just like other 
stones." "What does Mr. Starr mean ?" was asked by 
several. More stones were felt and commented upon in 
like manner. It was not long before one of the men 
comprehended my meaning, and enlightened the others. 

"The stones had been sent to and were not hot." 

Having thus secured the attention of all the men, I en- 
deavored to prove the folly that had been committed. 
No damage had been done to the stones. They were just 
as they were before being cursed, but not so the guilty 
one who cursed them. He could not harm a lifeless 
stone, but he could and had harmed his ever living soul. 
Some friendly advice was given and respectfully received. 
The offender would not promise never again to utter an 
oath, but he most heartily assured me that he would 
"try hard never to swear again,'' and it is my belief that 
he has tried hard enough to succeed. There is a good 
deal that is manly about him, and he is likely to accom- 
plish whatever he undertakes. 



66 FARM ECHOES. 

What can be more ridiculous than profane language ? 
I never hear it without thinking of the little boy who 
had been provoked by something, and in revenge told 
his mother that he would teach his little sister ''to say 
some bad words. " When asked by his mamma what the 
bad words were, he replied: "Dandy Jim and Daddy- 
long-legs." 

If those addicted to this low vice must have some 
strong adjectives to give spice and power to their sayings, 
perhaps too tame without them, why not "hallow" 
their Maker's name by keeping it for only sacred use, 
and, in lieu thereof, take up such impressive and digni- 
fied words as those quoted by that little boy, now a noble 
christian gentleman, or others equally forcible and grand, 
such as "gingerbread and molasses," " shovel and tongs," 
etc., etc. 

Though for many years an abstainer from intoxicating 
drinks, I have never sympathized with those ultra ones 
who denounce all who do not agree with them upon the 
important question of total abstinence. I grant to all 
the right I claim for myself — freedom of thought and 
action. True, there are many who drink in moderation; 
excellent christian people ; but it is equally true that 
there are many so under the dominion of alcohol as to be 
Avholly unable to use it in moderation. Their only safety 
is in abstaining from all intoxicating liquors. To en- 
courage such, and to disprove the too often repeated as- 
sertion tliat " only reformed drunkards sign the total 
abstinence pledge," are sufiicient inducements to enlist 
in the good cause those who are willing to come to the 
rescue of these less favored ones. 



FARM ECHOES. 67' 

If what are called " rectified spirits " would only 
''rectify" those who partake of them too freely, I should 
at once cease to be a total abstinence man. Do what we 
may, we can accomplish but little for others, as compared 
with what has been done for us by the good Master 
above ; and the more we deny ourselves for the sake of 
others, the more closely we shall resemble Him, and the 
more obedient shall we be to His command to follow 
Him. 

As to the men on Echo Farm, I tell all before engag- 
ing them that they are free to act as they wish ; that they 
can drown their bodies and souls in liquor if they prefer 
to do so, and are prepared to take the consequences, but 
that I am equally free to do as I wish, and that no 
drunkard will be employed by mo. 

None of my men are required to sign any total absti- 
nence pledge, though I am glad to say that several have 
voluntarily done so. They know full well that it is per- 
fectly useless to come to me with any excuses, however 
plausible, if found guilty of having imbibed too freely. 
Not even the plea that they had " taken a little whiskey 
to keeji their feet dry, the roads were so wet," could 
satisfy me that a pair of water-proof boots would not 
have answered the purpose quite as well. We understand 
each other now, and it is due to all of them to say that 
they are temperate, though not all total abstinence men. 
I not only refuse to employ drunken men, but will not 
purchase drunken cows. I once sent a trustworthy per- 
son to examine a valuable cow that had been offered me 
for sale. The report of her was highly favorable, with 
this one important exception: she was found ''almost 



68 PARM ECHOES. 

dciid drunk." The poor creaturo had eaten too freely 
of apples that had been lying in a pile for several 
weeks, and fermented, and she was too- much "over- 
come " to stand up. A mixture of cider and milk does 
not seem very tempting. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 
FARM ANIMALS. 

Before referring to the more useful animals of the 
farm, allow me to introduce to the reader, if not the 
most ornamental, certainly the most amusing creature I 
ever owned. 

At the time I purchased my country residence, a little 
nephew of mine was promised a pet lamb to play with 
Avlien he visited me the following spring. Shortly before 
the lad's visit, I made inquiry for such an animal. One 
of my men informed me that he knew where one was to 
be had, and he was accordingly sent to purchase it. We 
were all greatly astonished and amused to see — not a 
spotless, snow-white lamb, such as we had pictured in 
our imagination, but the most coal-black and impish- 
looking creature I ever beheld. A wether lamb whose 
diminutive size, for it was quite young and small, made 
it appear the more ridiculous as we took our first look at 
it, by the aid of a lantern at night. His antics, that 
first night, gave promise of amusement, and never was 



FARM ECHOES. 69 

a promisG better kept. He became a great pet, and 
contributed largely to the merriment, or fear, of those 
who made his acquaintance. Whether merriment or 
fear predominated depended very much upon the hilarity 
of the lamb, and his mode of showing it. He was ap- 
propriately named " Daisy." 

The lad for whose special benefit the lamb had been 
procured, had a full measure of sport with him the first 
summer, but it afterwards became apparent that too 
great familiarity was dangerous, for it was clear that 

Willie had a little lamb, 

His fleece as black as jet, 
And if too near him Willie went, 

He was sure to be upset. 

This was nothing to the discredit of the boy, for some 
gentlemen whose bravery upon the battle field had never 
been questioned, eagerly sought refuge behind a fence, 
when they saw Daisy making for them. However nimbly 
they vaulted over walls, Daisy was much more nimble 
than they, and was '* over "about as soon as any of 
them. Leaping walls was one of Daisy's delights. Un- 
like politicians and cats, he was never on the fence, but 
took a decided stand one side or the other. 

I am sorry to say Daisy was a " black sheep " in charac- 
ter, for he became a noted thief, so expert, in picking the 
pockets of the men, as to make it unsafe to leave a coat 
or vest within his reach. His fondness for tobacco must 
have originated with the men, who probably gave him 
some to see what he would do with it. If they were the 
guilty ones, they paid well for thus training him, as he 
helped himself freely, at their expense, whenever an op- 



70 



FAKM ECHOES. 



portiinity offered. Knowing where and how to get it, 
he would search the coats and vests laid aside by the men 
while working in the fields. One day, while surrounded 
by a large force of men, clearing the field, I heard the 
shout : ''Daisy is at the coats !" Looking up, I saw his 
head buried in the pile of coats upon a ledge of rocks 
near me, and ran to drive him off. When close by him 




he raised his head as high as he could, holding in his 
mouth one end of a Avatch chain, the watch dangling 
from the other end. The rousing laugh of the men in- 
creased as the mischievous creature shook his head, sway- 
ing the watch backward and forward, so close to the 
rocks that I made up my mind that I should have to 
provide the owner of it with another. Daisy appeared 
conscious that he was doing a smart thing, and kept up 
the swaying motion, until I took the watch uninjured 
from him. 



FARM ECHOES. 71 

A few days after this Daisy again made himself con- 
spicuous, and in the same place. The old cry " Daisy is 
at the coats " drew the attention of every one in the field 
to him. His head was again buried in the pile of clothes. 
Eemembering the watch, I made all haste for him, and 
was convulsed with laughter as I saw him draw his head 
from the pocket of one of the coats, holding in his moutli 
a tobacco pipe. The pipe happened to be bowl upper- 
most, and in the comer of his mouth, giving the wretch 
the air of an accomplished smoker. The roar of laughter, 
from all hands, exceeded that of the previous occasion, 
and Daisy certainly appeared to enjoy the sport, for he 
stood motionless, head erect. There was no occasion for 
a rush at him, as when he was playing with the watch, 
so that I let him have his own way for a few minutes. 
He allowed me to take the pipe out of his mouth, though 
he was undoubtedly luxuriating in the taste of tobacco. 

So much has been written concerning the relative merits 
of the different breeds of cattle that there is no need for 
me to give more than a general account of those that 
compose my herd, especially as these remarks are merely 
** echoes " from my farm. 

If I purchase a 3'acht, it is presumed that I want her 
for voyaging on the Avater. If I buy a carriage, it is for 
land travel. So it is in regard to cattle. I buy what I 
deem most suited to the purposes for which they are in- 
tended. For just this reason owners of Shorthorns, Dev- 
ons, Jerseys, Guernseys, and Ayrshires, etc., have made 
their selection. If animals are wanted for beef only, as in 
certain parts of our country, the larger they are the better, 
if equally good in other respects. If for quantity of 



72 FARM ECHOES. 

milk, regardless of its quality, another breed may be 
chosen, though some of my Jerseys give twenty quarts of 
rich milk per day. If for richness of milk, richness of 
butter, and richness of meat when butchered, I know of 
none that can equal the best class of Jerseys. I do not 
mean the pretty little creatures so often purchased, and 
at large prices, merely for their beauty, but the full size, 
Americanized cows, born and brought up in this country, 
and which seem to me far handsomer than the toy cattle 
sometimes seen on fancy farms. 

Large sums are frequently paid for a painting of a hand- 
some cow, perhaps many times the value of the original. 
The purchaser sees his money's worth on the canvas, and 
gladly rewards the clever artist. A few years ago, I 
greatly enjoyed looking at a large exhibition of valuable 
paintings imported from Europe. Among them was one 
of a few sheep so admirably executed that you could al- 
most imagine them to be clothed in real. wool. Some 
farmers who saw this picture inquired the price. Upon 
being informed that it was two thousand dollars, they 
expressed surprise, and could not be convinced that it 
was worth so much money, though told by its owner that 
*' there was two thousand dollars' worth of avooI alone in 
the picture." 

While alludmg to the different breeds of cattle, it will 
not be out of place to acknowledge my ignorance of any 
such breed as was referred to by the clergyman who, m 
dwelling upon the Prodigal Son, became much excited 
over the young man's happy return to his home, and 
pictured in graphic terms, the " fatted calf " which he 
assured his hearers the fond father had been fattening for 



FARM ECHOES. 



73 




74 FARM ECHOES. 

many years in anticipation of the joyous event then 
celebrated. Calves^, nowadays, cease to be such when 
they become yearHngs. 

A school commissioner asked the scholars during an 
oflBcial visit, "What is Kentucky famous for," and was 
answered " For its mammoth calves." 

My herd consists of over one hundred and ninety Jer- 
seys, and two superior prize cows of the Ayrshire breed 
with which I am experimenting in order to test their 
value as compared with Jerseys. ''Litchfield" still 
proudly heads the herd, and is the admiration of all who 
see him. He appears to as great advantage as when he 
stood the severe test at the Centennial Exhibition at Phil- 
adelphia, where he won the Centennial award, also the 
special first prize offered by the American Jersey Cattle 
Club for the best Jersey bull. For quite a number of 
years excellent judges of cattle have been making ex- 
tensive selections of the best to be found on the Island 
of Jersey, and it stands to reason that this must long ago 
have drawn from that charming little Island their choicest 
animals, and that this country has now the best stock of 
that breed, as of others. Such long continued taking out 
of the one scale, and putting into the other, must surely 
have "tipped' the beam " ere this. 

I read, and hear, much that is absurd in regard to 
"points" in Jerseys, and long ago made up my mind 
that my schoolmaster was very remiss in not teaching me 
how to spell that simple word. I spell it "pints," and 
am fully convinced tliat the chief "point " of a cow is the 
number of pints she yields, unless she is wanted for other 
than milking purposes. There are, of course, certain 



FARM ECHOES. 75 

distinctive marks which it is important to note. My 
schoohiiaster was also at fault in demonstrating to me, 
as he did occasionally and conclusively, that one rod 
made an acre, whereas I have since discovered that it takes 
forty. Happily for me he did not know this. One was 
quite enough. 

As to "^ solid color," about which so much is said and 
written, and upon which many put so much stress, it can- 
not amount to more than mere outward appearance, for 
surely milk does not come from colored hair, nor flow 
more profusely from one color than from another. It is 
very natural to have a preference for color, and I fully 
agree with those who would rather have a solid fawn- 
colored cow, than one of any other shade, all other 
things, points and pints, being equal ; yet I think a large 
herd of different colored cows, say solid fawn, fawn and 
white, squirrel gray, and gray and white, is a handsomer 
sight than would be a herd all of the same color, what- 
ever that might be. 

This question of color is purely one of fancy. People 
have differed upon much more important "points" than 
it, and, far back into the past, if the statement of the 
" colored " brother be correct, that the people before the 
flood were divided into two classes — "the diluvians, who 
were in favor of the flood, and the anti-diluvians, who 
were opposed to it." The reply made by one who repre- 
sented his cow as "nearly solid color, so nearly so that 
but for a few dark hairs she would be all white," was an 
excellent burlesque upon the rage for " solid color." 

It is a great mistake to overfeed cows. The tempta- 
tion to do so, in order to make them give a large yield of 



76 FAEM ECHOES. 

milk, is very great. Such a course may secure the desired 
object for a time, but the evil effects are sure to present 
themselves before long. It is safest, and certainly most 
profitable, to feed moderately, and thus secure the health 
of the animals and of their progeny. 

"Silos," "Ensilage," are echoed from various parts 
of the country, and astonish us with their new and mar- 
vellous stories. If we throw overboard one-half of what 
is said in their praise, enough is left to deepen the interest 
they have already created. While some are rushing 
wildly into an undeveloped theory, others are calmly and 
judiciously exploring its mysteries, and the results of 
their investigations will determine one of the most im- 
portant questions that has ever arisen regarding agricul- 
tural products. 

I do not question the excellence of the artificial food 
given to cows and other animals, as I do not, and cannot, 
know all about it. Because of the impossibility of know- 
ing all about it, as I know all about the grasses, grains 
and beets I give my pets, I refuse to use any. 

Sometimes, in travelling, I have been inclined to suspect 
that hotel men were feeding me on artificial food, it was 
so awfully tough. If the art of making roast-beef and 
beef-steak out of gutta-percha has been discovered, I 
shall be inclined to suspect that I have been thus victim- 
ized. So long as I protect my herd, it shall not be 
troubled in any such way. That I may not be accused of 
being too particular, I acknowledge that the best of every- 
thing is good enough for my animals, though none too 
good. Dwelling upon this subject I am reminded of the 
unfortunate fellow who had been advised by his doctor 



FARM ECHOES. 77 

to eat "animal food." When asked by the physician 
how he liked the diet, he replied that he could get 
along very well with the beets and carrots, but that, do 
his best, he could not swallow the cut feed. For the 
benefit of the uninitiated, it may be well to explain that 
" cut feed " is hay cut short, say about an inch in length, * 
and mixed with grain — oats and corn ground together — 
and frequently bran. A little water is usually put with 
it. Doubtless much of the manufactured food for cattle 
is pure, but as there is great danger of adulteration, and 
quite as great difficulty in detecting it-without a thorough 
analysis, which cannot well be made by farmers, too 
much care cannot be taken in guarding against such im- 
position. 

'^ Experiment Stations," springing up in different parts 
of our country, have already accomplished much good, 
and, if rightly conducted, will prove of incalculable value 
in stock farming, as well as in every other branch of 
agriculture. 

Those whose chief object is to get cheap food, or cheap 
anything else, without having due regard to its excellence, 
expose themselves to fraud, and — perhaps unconsciously 
— tempt the mannfacturers to adulterate in order that 
they may make the required reduction in price. The 
best is generally the cheapest, and should invariably be 
sought. 

Dr. Albert E. Ledoux, says the '^ N. Y. Observer," in 
" addressing the National Agricultural Society upon the 
subject of mixed and manufactured seeds, stated that 
Professor Nobbe, of Germany, had made a thorough ex- 
amination of the stock of prominent European seed- 



78 FAEM ECHOES. 

dealers^ and the investigation revealed the following 
facts : The average per cent, of pure seed in commercial 
samples was fifty-nine. Of this fifty-nine per cent, , only 
eighteen per cent, was capable of germinating. One 
sample of orchard grass contained the seeds of forty-five 
other plants. Another contained ninety-five per cent, 
of dead seed. Three tons of seed sold as red clover con- 
tained two tons of yellow clover. Old seeds were reno- 
vated by boiling, dyeing, roasting. Weed seeds were 
stained and used to adulterate lots of expensive seeds. 
He discovered that in Bohemia and elsewhere large fac- 
tories for the manufacture of seeds were running, with 
warehouses at Hamburg and other commercial centers. 
'" No one unsuspecting would detect this adulteration 
even if practised to the extent of twenty-five per cent. 
In Bavaria and Austria women and children were em- 
ployed to gather weed seeds from the roadsides and 
ditches, which were shipped to England, sorted and sold 
as grass seeds. American seeds were also examined, and 
with results almost eqiially astonishing. For instance : A 
sample of red clover seed contained no less than fourteen 
thousand four hundred foreign seeds in a pound. These 
foreign seeds were of forty-four distinct species, among 
them thistle, sorrel, milkweed, dandelion, knot-weed, 
burdock, darnel, goose grass, blue weed, wild carrot, ox- 
eye daisy, pig-weed, chick-weed, and dodder. The sam- 
ples of American seeds, however, for the most part bore 
favorable comparison with the European specimens. 
Summing up the results of his investigations. Professor 
Nobbe said that American grasses contain, on the average, 
seventy-nine per cent, of pure seeds, while the average in 



FAEM ECHOES. 79 

Germany is only sixty-two. The average per cent, of 
grass seed capable of germinating is in the United States 
fifty, in Germany forty-two. The average percentage of 
pure seeds in American clover is ninety-three, in Germany 
ninety-four : clover seed capable of germinating, in 
America fifty, Germany forty-two per cent. The moral 
of all which is : " Buy your seeds of established and well 
known dealers, who have a reputation to maintain and 
who cannot afford to make money at the loss of it." 

As the faithful mariner carefully, and at all times, 
studies his charts, and keeps a constant oversight of his 
compass, taking nothing for granted, but always making 
sure of his position ; so should farmers, with equal vigil- 
ance, supervise their affairs. Well conducted agricultural 
newspapers should be studied with a view of ascertaining 
what improvements are being made. Every department 
of the farm should be under the direct personal control 
of its owner, and a minute account be kept of every thing 
that is brought to or taken from the farm. 

I do not believe in having any regulation that is not 
enforced. No rule governing the affairs of this farm is 
more rigidly adhered to than the one requiring every 
animal to be kindly treated. Apart from the inhumanity 
of cruelly treating cows, especially those so fastened in 
their stalls that they cannot, if they would, defend them- 
selves, there is a direct gain in treating them kindly. No 
person — I cannot say man, for no true man would do it — 
guilty of beating any of my animals, is retained one hour. 
The only " licking " is to be done by my cows, not on them. 
They do it as an act of affection, not in anger, and love to 
thus caress each other, and those who are kind to them. 



80 FAKM ECHOES. 

While travelling some two years ago, I saw three 
wretched sjoecimens of humanity ill-treating a cow in the 
most frequented street of a town through wliich I was 
passing. One of the three was in advance, pulling hard 
on a rope attached to the poor creature's horns. Another 
was on her back, pretending by clownish behavior to be 
riding a horse ; and the third was beating the hind legs 
of the jaded animal with a large sized stick which had 
been splintered at the end by the blows that had been 
given. I am sorry to add that none of the lookers' on, 
and there Avere not a few, were manly enough to put an 
end to this brutality. I was a stranger in that town, and 
knew none of the parties concerned, but that poor cow 
was relieved of her persecutors before she passed me. 

I often wish that the men who milk my cows were all 
good singers, and that they would thus use their voices 
while filling their pails. I am sure the pails would be 
better filled. Now and then I hear the welcome voice at 
milking time, and delight in it, however diflBcult it might 
be for strangers to recognize it as the voice of song, be- 
cause of the absence of what is sometimes called " music," 
but the cows understand it to be for their benefit, and 
not only take the will for the deed, but jxiy generously 
for the entertainment in an increased supply of milk. 
One of the most valuable cows in my herd had a great 
aversion to any one standing in front of her and stroking 
her head. Some four years ago she was very ill, and was 
carefully watched day and night by myself or some re- 
sponsible person. 

Ever since then she has not only been willing to be so 
petted by me, but delights in it. She has most certainly 



FARM ECHOES. 81 

not forgotten the kindness then shown her. This is 
more than can be said of some human beings. A few 
years ago a lad employed to watch the cows while in their 
summer pasture, and whose fondness for them was mani- 
festly reciprocated, was sitting on the stone wall at the 
road side, with some of them quite close to him. A man 
walking past playfully seized the boy by the shoulders 
and shook him. This so enraged one of the cows that 
she did her best to hook the offender. 

Hours were spent by this boy, every fine day, sitting 
on the grass reading, and supporting his back against 
the cows that were lying down. They all liked this 
companionship, and patiently waited his pleasure. I 
have more than once wished for a picture of this youth- 
ful herd-keeper with my pets. 

A party of scientific gentlemen from New York, who 
came to visit the farm, went to a field to see the young 
stock. There were quite a number of j^earlings and 
calves in the field, and the visitors expected to see them 
run away as they were approached by strangers. Instead 
of this being the case, the little ones gathered around the 
visitors as though bidding them welcome. The caresses 
were quite as hearty on the part of the animals as on the 
other side. ''Oh !" exclaimed one gentleman, "if Mr. 
Bergh were only here to witness this sight, how much he 
would enjoy it." 

I began by naming my animals from trees — Cedar, 
Chestnut, Filbert, Locust, etc. — but soon exhausted the 
list. Names are now obtained by young lady visitors 
leaving their cards at the reception-room of the 
dairy. On one occasion a large party of ladies and 



82 PAEM ECHOES. 

gentlemen visited the farm, and among other qneries, 
I was asked liow names were obtained for. so many ani- 
mals. The question was answered, and I mentioned sev- 
eral names thus secured, adding : ''There is one name I 
think exceedingly pretty ; it is that of a friend of the two 

sisters and Just referred to. She has never been 

here, nor have I ever seen her, but she certainly has a 

very pretty name, A S ; don't you think so ?" A 

smile on every face led me to suspect that the name was 
familiar to them, and that there was some pleasant asso- 
ciation connected with it. I was not a little surprised 
to find that the young lady in question was one of the 
party. She expressed a desire to see her namesake, and 
was much pleased with its looks and playful ways. 

I have studiously endeavored to guard against a mis- 
take too often made by those who exchange city life for 
farm life, and who, instead of taking up a specialty and 
perfecting it, foolishly attempt too many things to allow 
of success in any of them. They must deal in horses, 
cattle of various kinds, sheep, swine, poultry, etc. 
Others succeed with horses, but I am sure that I should 
not, having neither the talent nor the inclination for 
that kind of stock raising. Sheep arc unquestionably a 
profitable investment when properly cared for, but it is 
not in my power to devote the necessary attention to 
them. Even Daisy was too much for me, and had to be 
disposed of, not, however, to the butcher, nor to one who 
would eat him, but to one sure to treat him kindly. 

Of swine I have but few. Merely enough to consume 
the skimmed milk from the dairy, not needed for the 
calves. It is freely admitted that I have no fondness for 



FAEM ECHOES. 83 

pigs, and that I have never been able to make anything 
but 23igs out of them. Mr. Edward Burnet, of South- 
borough, Mass., and others, have succeeded admirably 
with these creatures. So much for their making a spe- 
cialty of this branch of farming. 

There must be a certain amount of danger in keeping 
such animals, if there be any truth in the story of tlie 
Ehode Island pig that decided the destiny of this coun- 
try by bringing about the Avar of 1813. It is said that a 
pig broke through a defective fence of two neighbors in 
Ehode Island. Angry words were followed by a lawsuit. 
The defendant (the pig owner) called upon a lawyer 
whom he had employed on previous occasions, and found 
that he had already accepted a retainer from the other 
party. His anger was thus kindled, and his influence 
was successfully exerted in defeating the election of tiie 
lawyer to the State Legislature. One vote decided the 
election of a Senator to Congress. England's " Order 
in Council " to seize and confiscate American vessels, and 
forcibly take sailors from them, had stirred up a warlike 
spirit at Washington, and an immediate declaration of 
war was also carried by one vote. If this be really so, 
and the vote of the Ehode Island Senator did precipitate 
a war which would have been averted by a few weeks' 
delay, the obnoxious "Order in Council" having been 
revoked, but unknown to the authorities at Washington, 
because of the absence of "cablegrams," then that pig 
caused a decided commotion between this and the mother 
country. Farmers who keep pigs must see to it that 
their fences are in good condition. 

Let me add, before taking leave of my animals, a few 



84 FARM ECHOES. 

words about some pets that were on my farm for years, 
but which cannot be considered as necessarily belonging 
to a farm. I refer to three dogs, as perfect specimens 
of their respective breeds as are usually seen, yiz : A 
large and exceedingly graceful English greyhound, named 
*' Chinsfachcook," a direct descendent of the famous 
greyhound, "Master McGrath," which was knighted by 
Her Majesty the Queen of England, and two little ter- 
riers, one a " Scotch," the other a " Skye." These three 
dogs were great favorites, and accompanied my family 
and our visitors in their walks and drives. The swift- 
ness of the hound was wonderful, as were some of his 
leaps. It was a comical sight to see the little Skye, with 
his very long body and very short legs, rolled almost into a 
ball, in his frantic endeavors to keep pace with the hound, 
who was conscious of his powers, and took evident de- 
light in racing with his diminutive, but decidedly ambi- 
tious companion. The Skye felt in duty bound to give 
chase to all intruding animals, regardless of their size or 
strength, and often paid dearly for his folly. On more 
than one occasion he was seen to pursue a fox, but never 
to overtake it. Not so, however, the hound. He could 
soon outrun Eeynard, but would not attack him. Once 
he and a fox that he had overtaken, played together for 
several minutes, when the cunning of the creature de- 
tected that a fox-hound was after it, and oif it dashed 
into the woods, leaving Chingachcook without even a 
parting salutation. The Scotch terrior was happiest 
when tormenting cats, and would make for them when- 
ever he saw them. But once, that I know of, was he 
mastered by one. The cat, driven to extremities, sprang 



far:! ECIiOL3. 85 

upon his back and remained there, though the dog was 
crazed by this unexpected performance on her part. 
Never was a dog more incensed, and could he have dis- 
mounted pussy, he would assuredly have put an end to her 
existence, though she possessed ninety times nine lives. 
As he, in his bewilderment, rushed past a tree, the cat 
again showed her dexterity by springing from his back 
into it, and seeking shelter among its boughs. Master 
Scot was evidently glad to be released, and thereafter 
that cat was not disturbed by him. 

So many of our visitors became apprehensive of hydro- 
phobia, that I felt it my duty to part with the dogs. 
This was done most reluctantly, for I was very fond of 
them, though I cannot confess to a fondness for such 
animals quite equal to that of some persons I have known. 
The most remarkable instance of this kind that has 
ever come to my knowledge was in Canada. I was 
travelling through that country and called upon a friend 
— one of the leading physicians of the city — whom I had 
not seen for years Our intercourse sufEered a temporary 
interruption. The doctor was applied to in most be- 
seeching and pathetic tones to cure a dog that had been 
fighting with a cur which proved more than his equal. 

*'Doc-tur — ah! doc-tur, do cure my poor dog!" — 
" Cure your dog ! " exclaimed the astonished M. D. 
"What have I to do with your dog, sir ?" — "Ah ! doc- 
tur, just see how he is lacerated — do cure him." — "I 
can't do anything for your dog," again replied my friend, 
and in a tone which indicated some warmth of feeling. — 
" But ah ! doc-tur, I am so afraid he will die, and if my 
poor dog should die, what would I do ? I could stand at 



86 FAKM ECHOES. 

the grave of my parents without shedding a tear, but 
oh ! I cannot part with my dog." This was too much 
for the " doc-tur," and in some way the front door of his 
dwelling, where the conversation took place, was sud- 
denly closed between the enraged "doc-tur" and the 
two puppies on the outside. It was some little time be- 
fore my medical friend calmed down. 



CHAPTEK IX. 
FARM BUILDINGS AND FARMING IMPLEMENTS. 

I have prided myself not a little upon having excellent 
barns. Great care was taken in planning and building 
them. Thousands of visitors, some days numbering over 
ninety, have expressed admiration of them. The cattle, 
for whose special benefit they were erected, have given 
unmistakeable signs of approval of them, and have cer- 
tainly thriven splendidly in them. No wonder then that 
I was somewhat taken aback a few months ago, when ad- 
dressed by a tramp, who pointed to my largest and best 
barn, and asked what building it was. Upon being told 
that it was a '*barn," he replied: **0h! I thought it 
was a poorhouse. They have poorhouses just like it in 
the old country." The fellow passed on, no doubt en- 
joying his little joke, and I comforted myself by think- 
ing what excellent poorhouses there must be in the *' old 
country," though I could not call to mind ever having 



FARM ECHOES. 



87 



Been any such in my visits there. Perhaps I had not 
been in tiie oldest parts of the ''old country." 

My principal cattle barns form three sides of an oblong 
square with a southern exposure. 

The room one hundred feet by forty feet is eleven feet 
high, and is lighted by eighteen large double-sashed win- 



100 x40 



35 



s L J 



ID 



PLAN OF BARNS. 



dows, opening top and bottom. It contains stalls for 
forty-eight cows, twelve in each of the four sections, so 
that they have ample room, much more than is usually 
allowed, but none too much in my opinion. There is a 
free circulation of pure air, both the cow-room, and the 



88 FAEM ECHOES. 

cellar below it, being ventilated through the cupolas on 
the roof. 

Three wide passage-ways run the entire length of the 
room, one on either side back of the cows, and one in the 
center, toward vv^hich they face, and from which they are 
fed. There are also three passage ways crossing the 
room, one at each end and one in the center. 

The wash-room (a) or as the men call it, the ** parlor," 
communicates with this room, and every man is required 
to wash his face and hands, and brush his hair before 
milking. 

Too many persons give a well kept dairy all the credit 
for clean, pure milk. Cleanliness and purity begin at the 



-(t~ 



INTEKIOB OF ONE OF THE BARNS. 

barn. When milk is taken to the dairy in proper con- 
dition, it may by good management in that department, 
be kept pure, but no dairy, however magnificently kept, 
can transform an impure article Into that which is fit for 
use. Some ladies who were visiting the barn, passed out 
of the "parlor" on one occasion, as I was making my 
customary tour of inspection, and commented upon what 
they were pleased to call "exquisite neatness." Referring 
to the regulation that the milkers must wash, etc., before 
milking, one playfully asked if they wore kid gloves 
while milking. As they were all strangers to me, I 
did not like to say, " No, but my cows are frequently 
milked with calf-skin srloves." 



FAKM ECHOES. 89 

The floors of the cow stables are sanded every day, 
summer and winter, though the animals are there during 
the summer only long enough to be milked, morning and 
evening. The sand is procured from the shore of a 
charming lake (the largest in the State, I believe), three 
miles distant. These floors are so evenly, and artistically, 
covered by the sand, especially one in charge of a man 
who is a genius in such business, that many visitors have 
been reluctant to walk on it. A city lady not long ago, 
visited the barns in company Avith her city-bred son. 
While waiting for the doors to be opened, she became 
apprehensive that her son's dress might suffer, and sug- 
gested to him that he had better roll up his pants so as to 
keep them clean. He promptly acted upon this precaution- 
ary suggestion, and had no sooner done so than the sliding 
doors opened and revealed such a floor as led him to at 
once take the reef out of his pants, to use a nautical term, 
and in they both walked, interchanging a hasty and ex- 
pressive glance, followed by the aforesaid genius, who 
was not a little amused by these proceedings. It may 
be asked why this daily spreading of sand upon the barn 
floors ? The answer is because of cleanliness and purity, 
and because it keeps the animals from slipping. Not 
only so, it pays the expense of gettmg it, when placed on 
my lands. In planning the barns, care was taken to have 
the feed for the animals stored immediately over them, 
60 as to avoid the expense and delay of moving it any 
great distance at the time of feeding. 

Over the north room to which reference has been made, 
two hundred tons of hay can be stored, which is more 
than enough for the forty-eight cows beneath, and for 



90 FAKM ECHOES. 

those in the adjoining room, which is fitted np with box 
stalls. 

This hay loft is approached by a massive walled and 
curved roadway, packed with stone in the center, thirty 
feet wide, and rising to a height of twelve feet, where it 
connects on the north side, or back of the bam with a 
double "barn floor" in the middle of the loft, and upon 
which four loads of hay may be driven at the same time. 
The hay is taken from the wagons by horse-forks (one 
over each of the two mows), and a ton of it is frequently 
unloaded in four minutes, and in four forksful — one a 
minute. 

But one fork has been used at a time, consequently 
but one wagon can thus be unloaded at a time, but as 
steam power will probably be used hereafter, I hope that 
two wagons can be unloaded at once. An accurate ac- 
count is kept of every hay crop — the day it is cut, the 
field from which it is taken, the Aveight, and the barn in 
which it is placed. 

The "Weight is ascertained upon a pair of Fairbanks' 
scales, well protected from the weather by a building 
erected for that purpose. A little over three hundred 
tons of hay are now gathered each season, a large portion 
of which is in the barns on the afternoon of the day on 
which it is cut. So much for the invention of Mowing 
Machines, Tedders, and Horse Rakes. 

From twelve to sixteen acres of grass have frequently 
been cut, cured, and housed the same day. The largest 
quantity drawn from the fields and placed in my barns 
in any one day was a few pounds less than thirty tons. 

The building forming the east side of the square. 



FARM ECHOES. 91 

shown on page 87, is one hundred and ninety-one feet 
long and thirty feet wide. The first floor was originally 
divided into six rooms, one each for oxen, bulls, calves, 
horses, wagons, and harness, etc., but the increase of the 
herd rendered it necessary to remove the oxen, horses, 
wagons, and harness, etc., to another building, so that 
those three adjoining rooms are now thrown into one, 
which is filled with cows. 

The ox-room has been fitted up with box stalls for 
calves and yearlings, the nursery, or calf-room, with its 
twenty little stalls, being too small for present wants. 
The animals in this barn have a full supply of hay im- 
mediately over them, as is the case in all my barns. 

The building on the west side of the square has recently 
been enlarged to its present size, one hundred and fifty- 
one feet long, and contains stalls for fifty-two cows. It 
connects with the North Barn, forty feet wide, which 
makes up the length of the one hundred and ninety-one 
feet barn on the east side. 

The Dairy Building, also recently enlarged, now meas- 
ures thirty-six feet by sixty-two feet, and is two and a 
half stories high. 

It contains on the first floor, a reception-room for 
visitors, who are admitted to the Butter Department on 
"Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, from eleven o'clock 
A. M, until four o'clock P. M. , churn-room, engine-room, 
room for washing tins, etc., three milk-rooms, one of 
which is a tank-room, and two rooms for milk and butter 
boxes. A large, well-aired cellar, with cemented walls 
and floor, is used for bottling milk. 

The second story contains a large room for milk boxes. 



92 



FAKM ECHOES. 




FARM ECHOES. 93 

These boxes are taken to this room as they are returned 
from New York and Brooklyn. Thence the bottles are 
carried to the wash-room adjoining. Tlie boxes are then 
cleaned and got ready for use again. When needed they 
are lowered to cellar by elevator, from there they are 
sent by four two-horse teams to the railroad depot for 
transmission to Nen York and Brooklyn. 

The boiler-room connects with the dairy on the north, 
and hot-water pipes extend thence to every part of the 
dairy building, for heating and for washing purposes. 

The ice-house, having a capacity of more than five 
hundred tons, is not far from the dairy. 

Some cows, generally those not giving milk, are kept 
in the barn shown in the picture on the opposite page. 

The horse-barn measures sixty-six feet by forty feet, 
with a communicating L fifty feet long, which gives 
room for fourteen horses in a row. The wagon-room, 
forty-six feet by forty feet, has but one post — a mas- 
sive one in the center of the room — thus giving ample 
space for wagons and for moving them as desired. 

Quite a small churn was first used in my dairy. This 
was replaced by a larger one, requiring two persons to 
turn it, one at each end. An increased demand for but- 
ter called for a yet larger churn, which was worked by 
l^ony power. A full-sized horse was soon needed, and 
now the churning is done by steam, in a large-sized fac- 
tory churn of a new and greatly improved pattern. 
There may be others quite its equal, perhaps better, but 
it does its work so well that I know of no change that 
could be made to advantage, unless it be the inven- 
tion of a churn that will produce good butter at one end 



94 



FARM ECHOES. 



by putting hay or grass in at the other end. When such 
a labor-saving machine is constructed, and when pipes 
are laid from country dairies directly to the city resi- 
dences of families who prefer to be thus supplied with 
milk, without the aid of railroads or milkmen, then there 
will be a decided panic in the butter and milk markets. 
It would be something new for madame, in her city 
home a hundred miles away, to ask by telephone for so 
many pounds of butter, or so many 
quarts of milk from any cow she 
might be pleased to select, and 
have it on her table within a few 
minutes. Visionary as this may 
seem, substitute "a few hours" for 
''a few minutes," and my fiction 
becomes a fact, for a telephone con- 
nects my farm with the Western 
Union Telegraph office in the vil- 
lage, and orders from distant cities, 
for any of the products of my dairy 
can thus be immediately executed 
— by rails, however, not by pipes. 
The cream is not churned until it has been strained 
through holes smaller than an ordinary-sized pin would 
make. Owing to its richness and solidity, it is necessary 
to force it through. This is done by a pump with 
double "plungers," the strainer can, at the bottom of 
which the strainers are attached, being first placed on 
another can. The butter is thus made all of one con- 
sistency. 

To avoid the unnecessary handling of the butter, it is 




CBEAM STRAINER. 



FARM ECHOES. 



95 



worked upon an ingeniously contrived turn-table, by 
which it is carried, by cog wheels, under a revolving^ 
cone-shaped, and grooved presser, which makes deep 
channels down which the buttermilk escapes to the edge 




ROTABT BUTTER-WOKKEB. 



of the table. It is then led by pipes to a tub placed un- 
derneath to receive it. 

Luxuriating here in the purest and richest of cream 
and milk, and realizing that many thousands of the resi- 





PBINT OF BUTTER. 



PRINT IN NAPKIN AND BOX. 



dents of New York and Brooklyn were actually suffering 
for the want of these blessings, I resolved more than 



96 FAKM ECHOES. 

three years ago to supply that want. Milk was sent from 
my dairy to tliose cities in one quart tin cans, and cream 
in pint and half-pint tin cans, all the cans being sealed 
here, and not opened until the seals were broken at the 
residences of the consumers. Glass bottles were substi- 
tuted for the tin cans> and there has ever since been such 
a demand for the milk and cream thus put up, as has ex- 
C3eded my ability to supply it, though my herd has been 
more than doubled, and will probably soon be twice as 
large as now. 

By special agreement made with some reliable farmers 
in this neighborhood, thoroughly pure and rich milk in 
a limited quantity is received from them. They are 
bound by a written contract, duly signed and witnessed, 
to observe all the regulations deemed necessary to secure 
the best and purest milk, and from Jersey cows (fre- 
quently called " Alderneys "), so soon as the change from 
*' native cows" can be effected. To prevent the possi- 
bility of mistake or fraud, the services of a medical gen- 
tleman of high professional standing have been secured 
to test the milk from every herd, my own as well as the 
others to which I have referred, also the milk of each 
and every cow in all these herds. These tests are most 
thoroughly made, and a full written report of all is given 
me. The effect of this frequent and searching profes- 
sional investigation has been most beneficial, and the 
farmers, who at first stood in no little dread of it, now 
fully realize the decided advantage it is to them. Every 
cow that has not given satisfaction has been promptly 
disposed of by them, and there is now a healthy rivalry 
— an esprit de corps — among them, just such as I have 



FAEM ECHOES. 



97 




TESTING QUALITY OF MILK. 



98 FARM ECHOES. 

been desirous to create, one which is producing much 
good to themselves, and which confers a benefit upon a 
larger number of city families than could otherwise be 
reached, and vastly greater than they have any idea of. 
I have offered a premium to the farmer who, by the doc- 
tor's report, has the best record at the end of a certain 
specified time. 

All the milk sent from this farm (except such as is 
known as special, being always from the same cow, and 
wanted for invalids and infants) is put into a large 
tank, made at an expense of several hundred dollars, be- 
cause constructed of the best and purest materials. After 
being sufiiciently cooled in this tank, which is surrounded 
by iced water so as to extract the animal heat as quickly 
as possible, the milk is drawn, twenty bottles being filled 
at the same time, through as many nickel-plated faucets. 
It is only in this way that consumers can have milk of 
unvarying quality. Every precaution that can be thought 
of is taken. All the milk is strained and re-strained 
most carefully. Each of the glass bottles in which it is 
shipped is sealed with a label upon which is printed the 
date it leaves the dairy. Twenty bottles are packed in a 
strong wooden box, which is locked before it leaves the 
dairy. These boxes are placed in a railroad car, which is 
locked by my men, and unlocked by the agents at New 
York. It will be seen by the picture of the bottles used, 
that the families who take the milk are required to wash 
them. This should be done as soon as they are emptied. 
Two, and sometimes three persons are kept busy at the 
agency washing them, as they are taken there by the men 
who distribute the milk, and five persons are kept 



FAKM ECHOES. 



99 




BOTTLING MILK. 



100 



FARM ECHOES. 



actively employed in the dairy washing them as they are 
returned here. No bottle is used until it has thus been 
thoroughly cleansed. 

I have endeavored to heed the admonition : 

" Be not the first by whom the new is tried, 
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside." 

New farming implements are carefully examined be- 
fore they are purchased, and thoroughly tested before 




MILK BOTTLE. 



being put into active service. I had, for instance, heard 
much of a Hay Loader, and was induced to buy one. In- 
stead of waiting until the haying season, when all hands 
would be busy, and when time should not be occupied in 
making experiments that could be previously made, I had 
some old hay put in a "windrow," and the loader tested. 
A man was placed in the wagon to receive the hay and 
distribute it in the vehicle, but it came in so fast that he 
became alarmed, and fearing that he would be buried 



FARM ECHOES. 



101 



alive, called lustily to the driver to stop, much to the 
amusement of all present. 

Numerous inventions are submitted to me, some of 
which are recommended almost as strongly as was the 







HAT-LOADER. 



"scarecrow," which was said not only to keep off the 
crows, but also to so impress upon them the sin of theft, 
that they would bring back all they had stolen in previ- 
ous years. 



103 J'ABM ECHOES. 



CHAPTEE X. 

CAN FAEMING IN NEW ENGLAND BE MADE 
REMUNERATIVE ? 

** Does farming in New England pay ?" is not an un- 
common question. As well might it be asked, "Does 
merchandizing in New England pay ?" " Does trading of 
any kind in New England pay ?" " Does it pay to engage 
in the shipping or manufacturing business, or in the legal 
or medical profession, in New England ?" 

The thousands of New Englanders who have engaged 
in no other occupation than farming, and who have, 
through industry, frugality, and good sense, acquired not 
only a competence, but an independence, conclusively 
prove that farming in this section of country can be 
made remunerative. Thousands who have had neither 
this industry, frugality, nor good sense, have proved with 
equal certainty that tlieir attempts at farming in New 
England have been failures, because of the absence of 
these requisite characteristics. 

Because farming here, or elsewhere, can be made re- 
munerative, it does not follow that it will necessarily be 
so. The farmer has, as a general rule, quite as much to 
do with these results as has his farm. Farms are photo- 
graphs of their owners. As well might it be asked, 
** Does farming pay anywhere ?" as to ask if it pays in 
New England. AVhy should it not be profitable here as 
elsewhere. Some kinds of farming cannot be success- 



FAEM ECHOES. 103 

fully prosecuted here, but this does not apply to all kinds. 
Some pay better here than elsewhere, and vice versa. 

All branches of farming are not alike suited to all 
localities, nor to all climates. The vineyard of California, 
the cotton of the South, the grain of the West, each claims 
its proper soil and air. Though these products would 
not thrive in our more rugged, but far more invigorating 
climate, our crops thrive best in it. As in this section 
of our country, so in the others named, the product is 
not of the soil only, but of the industry and skill of the 
husbandman. Success is not to be expected anywhere 
where energy and thrift are not co-laborers with the soil. 

True, some unsuccessful ones leave this part of the 
country, and prosper elsewhere, not always, however, be- 
cause of the change of locality, but frequently because 
of the change in themselves. They have been forced to 
work as they would not work before. It must not be 
supposed that this remark in any way applies to the 
many worthy and industrious New Englanders who go 
hence to seek their fortunes, in other, and, to them, 
more genial climates, and who contribute largely to the 
prosperity of whatever place they select. "Without per- 
sistent energy and pluck it is impossible to gather gold 
or grapes in California, grain in the West, cotton in the 
South, or, in the Northern and Eastern States, the pro- 
ducts peculiar to them. 

Grant it that our soil is more sterile than in some other 
places. It is not nearly as much so as is supposed. In 
the wise providence of God, our people are more hardy 
than the average type of men, and are thus fitted for 
their work. In many portions of this much-abused sec- 



104 FARM ECHOES. 

tion of our country, the soil is as rich and productive as 
can be found anywhere. Who that settles upon a farm 
and spends much of his time driving about the country, 
pleasure seeking, instead of busying himself and his 
horses in clearing and enriching his fields, can expect to 
make farming pay? The argument that "It costs 
nothing" to so amuse himself, because the horses and 
vehicle are his own, not hired, is a common, but false and 
ruinous one. Just what he and his team might have 
accomplished by persistent energy during those hours of 
self-indulgence, multiplied by the number of the many 
days in each year so occupied, gauges the loss he has thus 
sustained ; a loss as real as though that amount had been 
taken from his purse and thrown into the sea. Daily 
(perhaps morning and evening) driving to the post-oflBice, 
avowedly for letters and papers, received, it may be, as 
often as once a week, and which might just as well be 
obtained through a passing neighbor whose legitimate 
business took him to the village, is as costly and injurious 
as is the daily lounging in village stores to gossip and 
help make others idle. " Time is money" is a significant 
notice occasionally displayed in city stores and oflBces. 
It should have a conspicuous place in every country store 
where the proprietor wishes to do a profitable business on 
a cash basis, and expects to save his crackers and cheese 
from too frequent sampling. Loafing costs many more 
dollars than is generally supposed, and is an unprofitable 
Investment for the loafer and for those on whose premises 
he loafs. No city man of business, be his occupation 
what it may, can succeed if he thus wastes his time and 
energies, nor can any farmer. It is indeed painful to 



FAUM ECHOES. 105 

travel through some farming districts of our much fav- 
ored laud, and see dilapidated dwelling liouses and barns, 
some unoccupied and forsaken ; and so comparatively few 
new ones near them to take their places as evidences of 
continued life and vigor. The tale they tell is a sad 
one in too many instances, and may be easily learned. 

Indolence and intemperance are twin vices. Too often 
they are like the Siamese twins, and cannot be separated. 
Each sustains the other, if it does not create the otlier. 
This double-headed curse leaves sad traces wherever it 
goes, and if there is one woe deeper than another, it 
drags its enslaved victims into the deepest. The very 
ground seems to cry out against it, as it wastes under 
neglect and foreclosed mortgages. No superscription by 
the hand of man reveals the cause of this scene of desola- 
tion and death, but the wayfaring man, if not a "fool," 
may clearly discern in it the inscription by the hand of 
God upon the pages of inspiration : 

" They have erred through wine, and 
Through strong drink are they out of the way." 

They probably began to indulge moderately in intoxi- 
cating drinks, but became enslaved and ruined by them. 
Their children were, perhaps, driven from what might 
otherwise have been to them a happy and prosperous 
home. Farming (if such an inappropriate term can be 
used in this connection) was made offensive to them, and 
they eagerly escaped from the degradation to which a 
drunken parent had brought them. Did that lost parent 
sin alone ? No ! Who, then, will undertake to fathom 
the depth of that ''woe" pronounced by an offended 



106 FARM ECHOES. 

God against " him that givcth his neighbor drink ?" I 
am thankful that there is as little of this terrible cA'il in 
this section of the country as in any I have ever seen. 
With gratitude let it be added, I know of no such de- 
serted farms in this neighborhood. 

Some farms are so outrageously neglected that it would 
be better were they entirely abandoned by their occu- 
pants, who are playing the dog-in-the-manger game. 
They occupy, but will not improve, and because they oc- 
cupy, others who would improve and prosper, are deter- 
red from so doing. These cumberers of the ground have 
much to say about farming "not paying." They cer- 
tainly speak from experience, and should be credited to 
the extent of believing their statement, but I should be 
sorry to credit them in any other way, or believe that 
their farms could not be profitably worked. If it will not 
pay to take judicious care of fields, cattle, farming im- 
plements, etc., it certainly will not pay to neglect them. 

The merchant who puts no money into the bank would 
be unreasonable were he to expect that he could draw any 
out ; and so with the farmer who neglects to enrich his 
fields, but hopes to get crops from them year after year. 
He starves himself who starves his fields, and Justly so. 
Land that is generously enriched will be generous in its 
yield. Like its divine Master, it "loveth a cheerful 
giver." It is quite true that there are "sermons in 
stones." The earth too is a sermonizerof no mean order. 
Its preachmg is thoroughly practical and convincing. 
Saint Paul listened to its teachings, for did he not echo 
the voice of nature when he told the Corinthians that 
'* He who soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and 



FARM ECHOES. 



107 



he who soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." 
If farming in New England cannot be made remuner- 
ative, where did the many farmers who are well-off finan- 
cially get their money ? Some of them, doubtless, regret 
that they have not kept their funds in their legitimate 
business, by continuing to improve their lands and mak- 
ing them yet more profitable, rather than invest in out- 
side securities which have proved disastrous — investments 
of which they knew nothing definitely, but which they 
hoped would yield a large return. They have discovered 




MAKING A MOUND OF STONES, 

to their sorrow that the bulls and bears in those city 
menageries called '' Stock Exchanges," are far more dan- 
gerous animals than are the country ones which they can 
control without foreign aid. What better investment can 
a farmer have than corn *' stalks "and plow "shares?" 
If " it paid " to clear a portion of the farm, why not 
make yet further improvements and get a larger return 
from it ? Farms do not clear themselves. At least I know 
of none that have done so, nor do I know of any super- 
human aid that will do the work, although I believe that 
our globe revolves. One farmer cannot be convinced of 



108 FARM ECHOES. 

this. His is an unusually rocky farm, and he insists that 
if the earth did "go round," and his farm ever "got 
bottom side up," there would be a great rattling of stones 
below, and that he "rather guessed" he would be saved 
the trouble of getting any more stones off his land. 

The surplus stones on Echo Farm are packed into 
ravines, and covered with earth. When there are no 
ravines to fill up, they are piled in large mounds and 
Covered with earth. The crops on these covered stones, 
both in ravines and mounds, have always been large, 
and less affected by drouth than in surrounding fields. 

The farmer who imagines that his work for the year is 
completed when he has gathered his hay crop, shoots as 
wide of the mark as does the merchant who considers 
that his debt is discharged when he gives his note for it, 
payable "ninety days after date." 

The work of a thrifty farmer is never finished. Each 
day, whether it be in June, December, or any other 
month of the year, brings its work, and plenty of it. 
The haying season is not the only busy one on a farm, 
though the old proverb: "Make hay while the sun 
shines," has doubtless created a contrary impression. 
Sunshine is needed for other and equally important 
work, especially in the fall of the year, when leaves are 
to be gathered for bedding animals, and when the sun- 
shine is most valuable, because we then have so little 
of it. Dried leaves make the best bedding, and are an 
excellent fertilizer. 

The censure " Nothing but leaves," certainly does not 
attach to our trees. In ornament and in use, they do all 
that is expected of them. Robing themselves in their 



PA KM ECHOES. 109 

delicate and beautiful spring costume, the richness of 
whose verdure increases as the seasons advance, they add 
tint to tint, each leaf seeming to rival the others in gran- 
deur, until they bid us their autumnal adieu. Their 
beauty then gives place to utility, and every farmer 
should rejoice that it is with leaves, as Pope said of men : 

" Another race the following spring supplies." 

The farmers around me looked with no little distrust 
upon my introduction into this neighborhood of Jersey 
cattle, and long remained incredulous. They are now 
convinced that their fears were groundless, and many of 
them are exchanging their so-called "native cows "for 
Jerseys. Others are sure to do so ere long. 

The following is the substance of a conversation I had 
with a neighboring farmer about two years ago. He had 
just praised my Jerseys very liighly, and I naturally in- 
quired why he did not keep the same kind of stock. "I 
cannot afford to do so," was the reply. — "That is 
strange," I remarked. "I certainly cannot afford to 
keep such animals as you have, and yet yon tell me that 
you cannot afford to keep Jerseys, such as I liave. There 
seems to be a contradiction here." 

" How much do you get for your calves," I next 
asked. 

" About a dollar or a dollar and a half before they are 
fattened." 

" Mine sell for from one hundred dollars to three hun- 
dred dollars when quite young. There is a great dif- 
ference in our figures, is there not ?" 

"Yes." 



110 FARM ECHOES. 

" Do your cows eat less than mine ?" 
"No. I believe mine eat more than yours." 
" Are yours more hardy than mine ?" 
"I used to think so, but have changed my opinion." 
" Do yours give as much, and as rich milk as mine ?" 
"I think mine give as much as yours, but Jersey cows 
give richer milk, I believe, than any others." 

" Do mine need more care and attention than yours ?" 
" I suppose they don't need it, but they have more at- 
tention than I give mine." 

"No more care is bestowed upon mine than is good 
for them, therefore less would be injurious to them, and 
a loss to me." 

It is not necessary to repeat any more of this con- 
versation. Suffice it to say that the farmer alluded to 
has changed his views, also some of his cows, and is now 
a firm believer in Jerseys. 

Many who come to see this farm ask me if farming in 
New England can be profitably conducted. I tell them 
that they are on Echo Farm, so named because of the 
many excellent echoes which abound on almost every 
part of it, and that if they will consult these echoes they 
will assuredly get just such information as their question 
calls for. They have but to inquire : 

" Tell me, Echo, if farming can pay here ?" 
Echo answers : "Farming can pay here." 
Strange as it may appear, the more distinctly this 
question is put, the more audible and emphatic will be 
the answer : 

"Farming can pay here." 













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